I, too, have the exact same question. I have some that half of the plants are gorgeous and the other half need to be deadheaded desperately. I was planning on cutting them today but it's a little bit of a daunting task.... and I only have four plants to deadhead.

hostafordays, glad to hear I'm not the only one that has this complaint. I only have 3 but that's more than enough for me to put up with keeping their messy appearance at bay. I had just about decided to rip them out, but I must admit just this morning they looked quite tidy beginning their next round of flower production. We shall see how much effort it takes to keep them looking good. If it turns out to be very time-consuming, they'll be history.

One weird thing - when I bought the plants they were all blooming with fresh white flowers with a dark pink circle in the middle. Now 2 of them are producing their next round of new flowers and the flowers on both are pink with dark pink circles in the middle. Why would they be a different color now than when I bought them?? Or am I crazy?

you are most likely .. going to have to find the second latin name.. to hone in on the plant you want ... as compared to the other ... especially if you end up having to look for seeds.. or online plants ...

get pix of yours.. and sissys.. and try the name that plant forum.. those wizards MIGHT be able to differentiate the two plants ... if no one here can ...

greenhouse grown plants.. can do weird things... on the next flowering.. after release to the wilds of mother earth ... ....

i am always hesitant to answer your question in the last sentence ... lol ..

ken

Shovel pruned the pinks--I just couldn't look at them anymore! That new silvery/glaucous foliage and spicy fragrance used to sucker me in but no more!

I'm trying Sweet Williams again, after many years. They're a nostalgic flower for me but to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how to prune them so they keep looking good!

Perennial dianthus have the needle blue-green leaves. It sounds like you have the annual (though, they are perennial in my are). Yep, they look ratty after bloom. I often clip the stems down to a few inches...they do not seem to care but will regrow. I clip off ratty side-shoots, too.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. So now I see there are plenty of others who have found pinks to be high maintenance to keep them looking good. Prior to trying them myself, my only judgment was all the pretty pics with nary a brown spot anywhere and the fact that several have received awards.

Ken, thanks for the humor!

Forgot to add - this morning a new flower just opened and it is white, whereas other flowers on the same plant are pink. I would think the color change would be due to fading, except that the pink ones opened pink and have stayed pink, albeit a faded pink.

Carolinaflowerlover, yes I must have purchased the annual dianthus. I like the habit of the perennial ones a lot better. Are they as much work as the annuals?

For perennial Dianthus you can clip them over with the garden shears. There's no need to dead head individual blooms. It doesn't matter if you cut off a bit of the foliage too - it just keeps them more compact.

the base of becoming a real green thumb.. is the ability to .. what we call.. shovel prune ... ANYTHING that is not living up to your expectation ...

frankly ... i have basically gotten rid of anything ... that requires deadheading ...

or in the alternative... letting them have their ONE natural bloom.. and not trying to extend the season ... by DHing ...

lifes too short... PUT IT OUT OF YOUR MISERY ...

ken

BTW .... get the latin on sissy's plant.. and them google PROPAGATION OF THE LATIN NAME ... most likely ... you can figure out how to do such.. and have a couple dozen plants by fall .. of course there are those plants where it wont work... i dont know on yours ....

ken, good points you make. I'll keep that in mind.

floral, thanks. Just clipping down the perennial ones doesn't sound too high maintenance. Glad to know that.

By your definition, Ken, I am a useless gardener.

Kez, you might have picked up Sweet William aka Dianthus barbatus. They have broader leaves & clustered flower heads like nosegays. http://tinyurl.com/p4vx5zb

The China Pinks Dianthus chinensis have narrow leaves. http://tinyurl.com/opcp6dl

The Cheddar Pinks are Dianthus gratianopolitanus. Here's a 5-page article describing & illustrating some of the various pinks, which may help you spot what your sister grew.

http://tinyurl.com/opcp6dl

Tend to deadhead all of them by hand by plucking them as you wood an apple. Holding the stem with index finger & thumb below the fizzled bloom, to support the stem & keep it from snapping away lower than wanted, I catch the bottom of the finished bloom between index & middle finger of the other hand & pull upward. Maybe takes 5 seconds to locate & pluck each bloom, easier on my hands & the plant than scissor snipping. Encourages rapid rebloom on those plants with the capacity for doing so. For the few too tough to pluck this way, like Sweet William, keep a wide toenail clipper in the garden pail instead of snips.

KEZ - mine also changed color! I had parfeit last year (along with diana white and supra-salmon (supra salmon didnt make it through z7 winter though) but this year I have some that look like the original parfeit, some are now a solid pink, some pink with darker center, some dark pink with lighter pink center, and some that are a very very beautiful blood red with more of a hot pink vein running through them. the diana white are still white though. I actually came across this thread after searching "dianthus" to see if anyone else had color change as I know it happens to many colors when you try to grow a new plant from a seed but as these are the original plant and not a seed I am a but stumped on the color change.

Mine change color, too. :)

As for changing color, perhaps what happened is that some of the seed fell and germinated, starting a new plant. If not a species, any new plants could have different features, including color.

I lived in a little community outside of the Boston, MA area where many of the long-time residents had the "grape" scented lavender tall bearded iris, and the same fragrant, simple flowered pinks with a maroon eye on pink, fragrant of clove. The foliage was glaucous and fine. I moved and took my plants (some from the rental house) with me. They looked so lovely with the blue veronica that bloomed at the same time. I had a large raft of them (which, IMO, is how they look best, if you have the space). Walking past them was an olfactory treat.

Unfortunately, I had to leave me gardens on their own for some years and the chipmunks and voles found the plants just too tasty. One of these days, I'll probably drop by my old neighborhood with a handshovel and pot and beg more off one of the residents. I suspect mine were species, as I never dead headed, and as they spread, stayed true.

One reason I don't care for (?it is tetraploid) daylilies is because of the ugly finish -- this blob of messy used facial tissue look.

I used to drive around with plants to share, a mini gardening mattock and some pots or bags. If I spotted a gardener working on anything that looked good <g> and that seemed abundant, I'd stop to talk a bit and ask if I might have a sample of whatever plant, and invite them to take any of the perennials I'd brought along or could get for them. I didn't do tons of this, but found most gardeners I met while bicycling or in my little car, to be busy, but very willing to share and exchange. Sometimes just by stopping my bike to compliment someone or comment, I was offered fresh green beans and another time all the dropped (interesting) apples I could fit into my bike's bag. Nice people and I also learned some things.

I agree with those who suggest tossing the plant (or offering it to someone who might want it -- Freecycle maybe). I hope you find the pinks like Sis has or can get some of hers sent to you.

Texasranger2, yes, I think I liked the foliage on my sister's dianthus as much as I did the flower. That's not what I ended up buying in a hurry this year, though. Sis has long since moved away from the house where she had the glorious big garden and doesn't have the dianthus anymore, but she may remember what kind she ordered. I'm going to ask her next time I talk to her.

vasue, nope, it's definitely not Sweet Williams that I have (although I see they're similar in a lot of ways). It may very well be that what I ended up with were cheddar pinks. From the picture your provided in the link, it looks a lot like what I have. In my original post I described mine as having broad leaves, but they're not nearly as broad as Sweet Williams. My definition of 'broad' was relative to the needle-like gray foliage of my sister's plants. I haven't yanked mine out yet and I'll admit they are getting a little nicer looking so they've earned a new lease on my property for the time being. I will have to take a picture of them.

logixsti & carolinaflowerlover - good to know I'm not the only one who has noticed color change!

starsplitter, the color change for me (and sounds like logixsti, too) isn't because of seedling variations since the change is on the brand new plant that I just placed in the garden - it hasn't even had time to re-seed yet. Loved your story of going around on your bike visiting other gardeners. I would love to have had you stop by my place!

Yep, mine will change colors after clipping them down, so it is definitely on the same plant. :) Star, I love your idea of swapping/asking for stuff. :)

The weather finally cleared enough to take a photo of my 'color-changing dianthus.' Now that all the suddenly pink flowers are gone, the next round of bloom is back to its original white. Will be interesting to see if they stay white for a while now.

As you can see, I goofed and didn't get the kind with the pretty blue-ish needle shaped leaves that I prefer. So do I have an annual dianthus, or what?

It is the annual. Pretty!

Carolinaflowerlover - thanks. Good to know what I've got.

last year I got, on ebay, 160 starters in the end of august for about $28. the majority came back and I didnt get them into the ground until late november/early december.

Logisxti....great price....please share seller's name. :)