Pink (China Pink)
Dianthus chinensis. CARYOPHYLLACEAE.
Planting and Growing Pink
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow pink in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of pink
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for pink
- Season of bloom and planting time for pink
- When, how deep, and where to plant pink
- How to plant pink
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of pink
- Landscape and container uses of pink
- Comments about pink and its features
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Growing Pink
Many cultivars of short-lived, erect, mounding biennial or perennial herbs, to 2 ft. (60 cm) tall and 1 ft. (30 cm) wide. Shiny, mostly gray green, narrow, grasslike, evergreen leaves, to 2 in. (50 mm) long.
The common name “pink” derives not from the name of a color hue, but from the verb, “to pink” or cut fabric with a jagged, sawtooth edge, a characteristic feature of the flower petals of this popular plant.
See also Sweet William, Dianthus barbatus, a closely related annual. Two other closely related perennial plants are Carnation, Dianthus caryophyllus, and Cottage Pink, Dianthus X allwoodii. All three relatives have similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, pink, rose, white, occasionally yellow, bicolored, lacy, fragrant flowers, 1–1-1/2-in. (25–38-mm) wide, in spring–summer.
Best Climates
Plant as tender annual, zones 2–7; ground hardy, zones 8–10. Self-seeding.
Soil Type and Fertility
Damp, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich. 7.0–8.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring, after frost hazard has passed, zones 2–7; late summer or autumn, zones 8–10, in full sun, 12–15 in. (30–38 cm) apart. Sow seed for flowers the following season or plant second-year nursery-grown transplants.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep damp; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Mulch lightly, zones 4–6. Propagate by cuttings, division, layering, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, borders, containers in cottage, heritage, meadow, wildlife gardens. Attracts birds, butterflies, hummingbirds. Good for cutting. Spider mite and rust, fusarium wilt susceptible.