Sweet William ?

18 years ago

Several years ago, I had the most FABULOUS Sweet William flower bed in the world. Well, they died out - don't know what I did wrong. I have replanted the bed NUMEROUS times, even dug out the entire soil and started over. I just replanted again this year. What I'm wondering is. Are there different varieties and I'm not getting the same variety I possibly had? Are there some varieties more hardy?? Oh,I remembered what killed them. I got a bug that ate them from underneath - quickly. I'd pick up the leaf and flower and realize it was just sitting on the soil - unconnected. Any input is appreciated. BTW, I do realize Sweet William is a Bienniel.

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Comments (3)

grapeapril
18 years ago
I'm not sure I'll be much help but I too have sweet william. This year it did poorly but because of me and being moved around too much. I lost a couple clumps. I will say that sweet william doesn't like to be planted too deep and it doesn't like mulch up around it like other plants do. It seems to need to breath. They're also not very thirsty plants and while they need water, they don't flower as well if given too much. They do like full sun. To continue their life and make them more of a 'perennial' they need to be allowed to seed. You can divide them too and they'll be fine.
I don't think you got the wrong kind. As long as it says sweet william you're good. :) If bugs are eating them, try an insecticide (I don't prefer chemicals but other people have no problem with them). I think as long as they have some room near the bottom to breathe, you can avoid the bugs or even fungus.
Good luck!
schoolhouse_gw
18 years ago
A local supermarket sells freshly dug Sweet William clumps by the basketful every year. A mix of gorgeous colors. One year I had them survive the winter and bloom the next Spring, but they died off soon after. This year I bought more, but they didn't do well at all. Now I think grapeapril is correct, because I had placed leaf mulch pretty thickly around them and they got ugly quickly. Today, I see one or two flower heads struggling to bloom amid the mush; but I should put the plants out of their misery. OR, move them to a bright sunny spot?
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duluthinbloomz4
18 years ago
I don't think you're doing anything wrong - it's the nature of the plant. The SW Barbatus "Wee Willy" variety does fairly well here where summer time temps rarely get out of the 70's for more than a day ot two (first year lush and full of blooms, second year plants are puny and struggling to put out a light bloom and they're gone by the third year). Treat them as annuals and save the seeds would be my best advice.

Off the internet:
Sweet William
Dianthus Barbatus (Caryophyllaceae)
"A perennial variety which usually performs as an annual. Prefers moist, well-drained soil in full sun. In areas having extremely hot summers, plant in partial shade for best results. They really do best in cooler areas."