I'm a fool for just about any member of the dianthus tribe. I'm also a little stingy with my gardening dollars, so I'd rather spend $3.00 on a packet of seed than $6.00 for a single plant. The only problem with that strategy is that I seem to be incapable of a.) sowing less than an entire packet of seed and b.)keeping the labels up to snuff.
So my more or less nameless collection of pinks and their carnation cousins is just beginning to bloom.
This red one, below, I do know is Fenbow's Nutmeg Clove Pink. Several years ago, for reasons I no longer recall, I decided that I would not be able to lead a happy and productive life without having a Fenbow's Nutmeg Clove Pink in my garden. It took some time to track down seed and of course this variety turned out to be hard to grow, so the first season I ended up with only two plants. The following season I tried propagating a few cuttings and had pretty good luck, so now I have six plants. The Fenbow's is a nice, clear red pink, but one really grows them for their amazingly strong clove scent, which regrettably I cannot share with you via photograph.
