Dianthus plumarius Devon Dove

Dianthus 'Devon Dove' is a modern carnation which has the advantage of flowering much longer than the old cultivars. It offers cream-white pompom-like flowers with a magnificent spicy and sweet fragrance. They bloom from late spring to late summer, above a tuft of evergreen leaves in a beautiful grey-green-blue colour. A perennial full of charm, equally at home in the garden as in flower pots. Its sturdy stems are perfect for making bouquets.

'Devon Dove' belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. It is a cultivar selected in England, resulting from the cross-breeding between D. plumarius and D. gratianopolitanus. D. plumarius is a European perennial that is the main ancestor of the different groups of carnations, both old-fashioned and modern types. D. gratianopolitanus is native to Europe and Asia, and has passed on to its descendants its compact habit and its wonderful clove fragrance. Its growth rate is quite fast. Its adult size will not exceed 40cm (16in) in height with a spread of 30 to 40cm (12 to 16in), or even more. It forms a slightly loose clump. From May to July, and again in September, it produces 4 to 5cm (2in) wide double flowers with slightly fringed petals. They are carried at the end of sturdy, often branched stems. Its linear, glabrous, pointed, evergreen, and leathery leaves are a superb grey-blue colour.

'Devon Dove' is perfect in borders, embankments, and dry rockeries. Its large, double flowers bring a touch of poetry and elegance to even the simplest decor. It can accompany the blue bells of wood hyacinths, Anemone coronaria, Madonna lilies, or other flowering cushions such as helianthemums, silenes, wall bellflowers, Caucasian rockcress, Phlox subulata, Erigeron karvinskianus, and Geranium sanguineum. To evoke gardens of the past, one can plant a small border of these delightful carnations at the base of red and pink peony clumps and old roses, regardless of their colour. This plant looks lovely between the stones of a wall or paving, in a trough or in a garden pot. It adapts very well to pot cultivation, in light soil, by monitoring watering and fertiliser inputs.