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When I first started gardening, a visiting friend brought me a terracotta pot with small mounded blue-gray grass looking contents. He assured me they (it?) would not only survive, but thrive next summer. I really didn’t appreciate it for 2 more years until one spring day I walked out my front door and was mesmerized by a sweet-spicy clove scent gently wafting from the delicate pink blooms. I was hooked, and now always have some growing in my garden.
My gift plant turned out to be a Cheddar pink, Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink', a short-lived perennial. Dianthus are called pinks because the flower edges look like they were cut with pinking shears. They grow wild in Cheddar Gorge in southwest England, giving the flower and the local cheese its name. Cheddar pinks (sometimes called just pinks) is the common name for Dianthus. Dianthus are botanically related to baby’s breath, thrift, Maltese cross and even amaranth. [1] The genus contains annual, biennial and hardy perennials like sweet Williams, carnations, clove pinks, gillyflowers and Cheddar pinks. More than 300 species exist, ranging from 2 inches tall to 3 feet tall. Most annual Dianthus sold by garden centers in spring are Dianthus chinesis. Pinks come in many colors besides pink: salmon, red, fuchsia, purple, white and bi-colored.
A mat-forming evergreen perennial, Cheddar pinks make a fragrant ground cover, border, and do exceptionally well planted in rock gardens and wall crevices. Cheddar pinks are subject to root rot if the soil is poorly drained. Do not heavily mulch (even in winter) except in high rainfall areas where pea gravel may be used to keep the foliage clean and dry. Cheddar pinks require good drainage, a sunny spot and neutral pH to bloom in mid-spring. They do best in Zones 3-9.
Allan Armitage declares the species Cheddar pinks to be one of the best of the genus and says they are almost indestructible in his Georgia garden. D. "Firewitch" is on his recommended list. [2]
Cheddar pinks are propagated by heel and tip cuttings or by dividing right after flowering. They spread quickly in good growing conditions, making divisions easy. Companion plants with similar dry growing conditions include Siberian iris, coreopsis, nepeta, plumbago, garden sage and lamb’s ears. They also complement blue-foliaged ornamental grasses and perennials.
Some Cheddar pinks cultivars:
Tiny Rubies Cheddar Pinks, double dark pink flowers 'Baby Blanket', pink flowers 'Mountain Mist' has similar pink flowers but has bluer leaves Dianthus Star Series 'Arctic Star' First Love Cheddar Pinks Snow Flurries Sand Pinks, D. arenarius (the Finnish sand pink) La Bourboule Alba Cheddar Pinks, 4 1/2" with white flowers Dianthus Pixie™ PP 13578 Cheddar Pinks ‘Cranberry Ice' offers brilliantly fluorescent, single petals of red splashed with lavender-pink.
Two antique pinks are the 18th-century, 30-centimetre-tall ‘Inchmery’, rare but worth hunting for in specialty plant nurseries. It has double blooms of delicate blush pink and good tolerance for heat and humidity. The legendary D. ‘Mrs. Sinkins’ (20 centimetres tall, Zone 5), is a 19th-century double white with an almost overpowering fragrance and petals so profuse the flowers resemble little cabbages. [3]
Many Cheddar pinks are hardy from Zone 3-9 so there’s no excuse not to tuck these into your garden!
Thanks to Victorgardener, kropit and Equilibrium for use of their photos from PlantFiles.
I have a 'growing my own food' obsession that grew out of my overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition and gardening. I am also a teacher (but outside the System), a writer, and a builder… and a craftsperson and... and… and many other things, LOL. In fact, I guess I am a generalist.
I live in the southern Appalachian Mountains on a hillside with a creek in front and drive a 15 year old truck I lovingly call “My Farmer’s Ferrari.”
Posted by girlgroupgirl (from Atlanta, GA) on March 5, 2008 at 11:49 PM:
Darius, every year we grew oodles of Bath's Pink at the front of our screened in porch. Then I decided it had to be a red/white/blue garden to go with the red and white amaryllis that bloom best there...well, now I really miss the smell of those pinks! I have them elsewhere, but on a warm spring night they always smelled the best.
Thanks for a lovely article!
GGG
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 6, 2008 at 10:16 AM:
:) You are welcome! I'd really miss the lovely small if mine were taken out...
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Posted by Fitsy (from Hayesville, NC) on March 11, 2008 at 8:50 PM:
Very inspiring!!! I've messed up and gotten
some with no or little fragrance! Will go after
the "real thing"!!!
Fitsy
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 11, 2008 at 9:07 PM:
Good for you!
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Subject: Thanks
Posted by RoseyQ (from Crystal Lake, IL) on March 5, 2008 at 5:12 PM:
Really love the photo of the red/pink flower. Is that the one named 'Firewitch"? Appreciate your interesting article featuring one of my many favorite fragrant flowers. I have grown several kinds from seed and they did very well though took two years to flower. Do you know of a place that specializes in pinks and offers them for sale by mail?
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 5, 2008 at 5:24 PM:
Rosey, glad you enjoyed the article. That red/pink one is 'Eastern Star' (and it's in our PlantFiles on the first page of 'cheddar pinks'). I didn't come across a site that specializes in them but I also wasn't looking for one.
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Subject: 'Bath's" Pink and my grandson
Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on March 5, 2008 at 9:49 AM:
darius, here again we have similar tastes. One of the first plants I planted in my new gardens was a "Bath's" pink. It grew in to a lovely big plant. One day when I had my grandchildren over, dgd and I were planting pansies (actually, she was rescuing worms). Stan sent dgs over to see if anyone wanted to go to town and to tell us what they had been up to. DGS settled himself comfortably down on the pink as if it were a cushion and proceeded to tell us about his morning. I looked up from my planting about half way through the narrative and pointed out the fact that he was sitting on a plant. He assured me that it was very comfortable.
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 5, 2008 at 10:17 AM:
LOL Kathleen, that's TOO funny!
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Posted by JanetS (from Braselton, GA) on March 5, 2008 at 10:37 AM:
I have that one too, it is one of my favorites! I actually have sprigged it throughout my garden with great success....meaning it took and bloomed when sprigged, but I have to admit the sprigs have not matured as quickly as I would have hoped, into large spreading mounds, like the parent plants were.
They do get a bit leggy when older, but are so rewarding and easy to care for!
Darius, I bet your place is like a little piece of Heaven on Earth. I love the Mountains, and the sound of a trickling creek!
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Posted by amethystsm (from New Haven, CT) on March 5, 2008 at 3:06 PM:
Nice article, Darius - i love my dianthus, Firewitch is one of my favourite plants.
Great story, Kathleen! Mine might as well be a cushion...
My Bath's Pink grows, and grows, and grows. It just doesn't bloom. The 1st year i brought it home with a couple of blooms on it, and never got anymore. Last year, i got 3 blooms total. My firewitches bloom like crazy, and the annuals bloom all summer and into the fall.
Go figure...
amy
*
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on March 5, 2008 at 3:27 PM:
Agree - great article Darius and funneeeee Kathleen. Sometimes I just plop down next to a big clump in our garden and close my eyes and inhale deeply - feels like my Grandpa is sitting right next to me :)
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 5, 2008 at 5:19 PM:
Amy, do you fertilize them? They HATE fertilizer...
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Posted by amethystsm (from New Haven, CT) on March 5, 2008 at 5:41 PM:
Nope. Mostly i ignore all the dianthus except for deadheading (so not a problem with the Bath's) and giving them haircuts when they get too big.
i gave away lots of little rooted bits from my Bath's Pink last year - i can't wait to find out if they bloom for anyone else.
i think mine is defective.
; )
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Subject: Thank you!
Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 5, 2008 at 5:52 AM:
Great article and lots of good information. Of course, I gotta have me some of these!! Beautiful photos. Well done, Darius!!
Thanks
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Posted by LariAnn (from Miami, FL) on March 5, 2008 at 3:50 PM:
What was most fascinating to me was knowing that "cheddar" referred to a geographic location and that "pinks" had nothing to do with color! I love this kind of information (and the plants are wonderful as well). Thanks!
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Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 5, 2008 at 5:04 PM:
I've had a large circle of these around a pin oak tree for about 25 years or so.. ...very fragrant every May.
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on March 5, 2008 at 5:18 PM:
:) It was fun writing it, and now I'm anxious for mine to start spring growth!
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Posted by leaflady (from Hughesville, MO) on March 5, 2008 at 5:51 PM:
Like, LariAnn, I find the information about the name very interesting. I usually have several of the so called annuals growing in my yarden. They live about 3 years then must be replaced.I've tried the true perennials but we dont have good enough drainage for them. Our soil is called black gumbo(black clay).
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Posted by wrightie (from Metro DC, MD) on March 5, 2008 at 9:56 PM:
I'm also a big fan of these plants. I started some 'rainbow loveliness' seeds last Winter, so I'm looking forward to a big show out of them this year. [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
This year I've started old fashioned standard Cheddar pinks. They always remind me of my MIL, who passed away in England last year.
Thanks for this lovely article, Darius.
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Posted by wind (from Mount Laurel, NJ) on March 5, 2008 at 11:03 PM:
Great article! I enjoyed reading your bio too. I also enjoy nutrition and am studying now to become an RD. I am winter sowing for the first time this year, and today I noticed two of my containers had seedlings starting, and one was my Cheddar Pinks!!! I've never tried growing dianthus before either, so now I can't wait!!!
Cheddar pinks are propagated by heel and tip cuttings or by dividing right after flowering. They spread quickly in good growing conditions, making divisions easy. Companion plants with similar dry growing conditions include Siberian iris, coreopsis, nepeta, plumbago, garden sage and lamb’s ears. They also complement blue-foliaged ornamental grasses and perennials.
