Dianthus WHETMAN STARS Pop Star

Dianthus 'Pop Star' is part of a new range of hybrid carnations called Whetman Stars, selected for their early and fragrant flowering and compact habit. This dwarf carnation forms a neat, evergreen cushion of grey-green foliage that remains attractive all year round. It boasts a delightful summer flowering of double flowers with fringed edges in a lavender-pink colour enhanced by a small cherry-red eye. This very hardy and low-maintenance variety is a wonderful perennial for rockeries and sunny containers.

Dianthus 'Pop Star' belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. It is a recent cultivar, selected in England for its hardiness, compact size, and ease of cultivation. The growth of this carnation is quite rapid. Its mature height, slightly taller than the varieties in this range, will not exceed 20cm (8in) when in flower, with a spread of 30cm (12in). This carnation forms a dense clump, composed of stems adorned with slender leaves. From June to August, it produces slender and short stems bearing solitary, double flowers with strongly fringed edges, displaying a small central halo of red that adorns a corolla of light lavender-pink. The fragrance of the flowers is more pronounced in warm weather. Its linear, glabrous, evergreen, and leathery leaves are a superb grey-green colour.

Dianthus 'Pop Star' is a border plant, suitable for dry embankments and rockeries. It is also ideal as a wall cover. It can be accompanied by other flowering cushions such as its sibling D. 'Evening Star', helianthemums, silenes, dwarf artemisia (Artemisia lanata), wall bellflower (Campanula muralis), Caucasian rockcress (Arabis caucasica), moss phlox (Phlox subulata), cooper's ice plant (Delosperma cooperi), Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), and bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum). This plant looks lovely between the stones of a wall or paving, or in containers. It adapts very well to container cultivation in lightweight soil, but will require regular watering and some fertiliser during the season to remain floriferous.