February
2006
By
B. Rosie Lerner
Extension Consumer Horticulturist
Purdue University
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Firewitch Dianthus Named
2006 Perennial of the Year
The Perennial Plant Association has selected Dianthus gratianopolitanus
Firewitch' (Feuerhexe') as its 2006 Perennial Plant of the Year. Also
known as a cheddar pink, the perennial dianthus is an excellent choice
for use as an edging plant, as a rock garden specimen, to soften retaining
walls, and in container gardens.
Firewitch' has hot pink flowers that bloom profusely in mid to late spring,
with some repeat bloom in summer and fall if you deadhead faded blooms.
As an added bonus, the flowers have a spicy clove-like fragrance. The
bluish-gray evergreen foliage forms solid mats, making it an excellent
ground cover, even when not in bloom. Plants reach only 3-4 inches tall,
though the blooming stems add a few more inches.
Dianthus performs best in full sun, though light shade is helpful in particularly
hot locations. The plant is rather adaptable, but well-drained soil is
a must. Plants are hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Plants are easy to propagate
by division or by stem cuttings taken just before or immediately after
flowering.
This particular selection of Dianthus was introduced by a German nursery
in 1957 as Fererhexe' but was mostly unknown in the United States until
the late 1980s, when a Connecticut nursery (Sunny Border) took up its
cultivation. Commonly sold now as Firewitch' in the United States, you
can find it in many local garden centers and mail-order catalogs, wherever
perennials are sold.
Members of the Perennial Plant Association, generally professional plant
growers, select one perennial each year to educate the gardening public
and to promote planting of perennial flowers. For more information, visit
the association's Web site at http://www.perennialplant.org.
2-2-06
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