Their relationship to carnations is unmistakable. Nevertheless, the carnation impresses with its individual attributes, such as wintergreen, shimmering silver leaves and intense flower colors. If you still have questions about cultivation on your mind, read the answers here.
What should you know about carnations?
Carnations (Lychnis) are attractive perennials with intense flower colors and wintergreen, shimmering silver leaves. They prefer sunny locations and require regular watering, fertilizing and pruning. Popular varieties include Burning Love, Cuckoo Carnation, Alba and Alpine Carnation.
Planting carnations correctly
The various carnation species may differ in terms of the ideal location conditions. In order to plant the flower beauties correctly, there are no longer any serious deviations that need to be taken into account. How to do it right:
- Put the potted young plant with the entire root ball in water for 30-60 minutes
- Meanwhile, loosen the soil thoroughly, pull weeds, remove stones and roots
- Enrich the excavation with compost, horn shavings, sand or especially ericaceous soil for the Alpine carnation
Pot out the water-soaked pitch clove and plant it in the prepared soil up to the bottom pair of leaves. Water regularly on the day of planting and afterwards to ensure that the perennial grows safely.
Care tips
The down-to-earth charm of a carnation is also expressed in the clear care. If you pay attention to the following measures, the perennial will remain loyal to you for several years:
- Water regularly in dry summer conditions
- From May to July, fertilize organically with compost or liquid every 1-2 weeks
- Cut off wilted flower stems after the first bloom
- Complete pruning in late winter
There is no need for winter protection in the bed. As a precaution, carnations in pots are moved to frost-free, bright winter quarters. Please continue to water the plants outdoors and in containers during the cold season so that the root ball does not dry out.read more
Which location is suitable?
The small, fine genus is waiting for you with decorative specialists for different location conditions in summer borders of farm and natural gardens and lush perennial beds. All carnation varieties require a sunny location. However, there are the following differences to consider:
- Cuckoo Campion (Lychnis flos-cuculi): for locations with fresh, moist soil, without blazing midday sun
- Crown Campion (Lychnis coronaria): suitable for hot locations, with sandy, dry, poor soil
- Alpine campion (Lychnis alpina): for sunny places with acidic to neutral soil, moist to sandy-dry
- Garden carnation - Pitch pink (Lychnis x arkwrightii): for sunny beds with nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil that is not too dry
read more
The correct planting distance
Choose a planting distance in relation to the expected growth width. In order for a carnation to develop its concentrated flowers, it should not be cramped. For the crowd favorite “Burning Love”, a planting distance of 20-30 cm is an option, while the more delicate Alpine carnation can cope with a distance of 15-20 cm.
What soil does the plant need?
Popular species, such as the garden carnation or burning love, thrive in any good garden soil as long as the location is sunny enough. In order to plant a sandy, dry rock garden with the flowers of carnations, the lush crown carnation comes into focus. If you are looking for a pitch pink that thrives in acidic soil, you are well advised to go with an alpine campion. The cuckoo campion feels at home in the moist soil near the pond.
What is the best time to plant?
For carnations in containers, the planting time begins at the end of March/beginning of April, provided the weather is frost-free and the ground has completely thawed. Provided a sufficient water supply is guaranteed, this time window remains open throughout the summer and into early autumn.
When is flowering time?
The flowering period of a carnation lasts from May to July. After cutting back the withered stems, the attractive flowers appear again from August to September/October.
Cut carnation correctly
Pruning after the first flowering period creates a late summer bloom for the carnation. The extent to which self-sowing is desired afterwards determines the date for pruning close to the ground before winter. If you cut the flower stems before seed heads form, the flower saves plenty of energy. To ensure that carnations continue to thrive at the location, it is sufficient to leave a few flowers with fruit clusters. If you ideally leave the pretty leaves on wintergreen carnations, such as the crown carnation, until spring, the otherwise dreary appearance of the garden will benefit from this care. Deciduous varieties, such as Burning Love, cut back when all the leaves have withered completely.
Watering carnation
If you coordinate the water supply with the location requirements of a carnation, nothing can go wrong. The central specifications at a glance:
- Water Alpine carnation with lime-free water
- Water cuckoo carnation regularly when the soil has dried out
- Water crown carnation only during summer droughts and if there is no rain for a long time
- Water all other species and varieties whenever the substrate feels dry
What all pitch pinks have in common is that they cannot tolerate waterlogging. This even applies to the rather thirsty cuckoo carnation.
Fertilize carnation properly
The carnation in the bed is content with a portion of compost every 2 weeks from May to July. In the planter, liquid fertilizer for flowering plants covers the low nutrient requirements throughout the summer. Lychnis coronaria even avoid using fertilizer at all, as they prefer to extend their roots in the poor, sandy-loamy soil of rock gardens and gravel beds.
Diseases
If a carnation is weakened due to waterlogging, it becomes susceptible to fungal diseases. Above all, the pathogens of powdery mildew colonize the silvery, hairy leaves with an unsightly, mealy-gray coating. As the disease progresses, the leaves turn yellow-brown and die. It doesn't have to come to that as long as you have fresh milk in the fridge. Make a mix of 100 ml milk and 900 ml water to spray the diseased common carnation repeatedly.
Pests
While voracious snails avoid the pitch, aphids have no qualms about settling on the decorative foliage. You should therefore regularly check the undersides of the leaves for infestation. In the early stages you can get rid of the plague with a mixture of 1 liter of water and 1 tablespoon each of pure soft soap and spirit.
Wintering
The carnation is completely hardy. There are no precautions to be taken in the bed for the cold season. However, if you are cultivating the perennial in a pot, we recommend moving it to frost-free, bright winter quarters. Continue to water the plant carefully so that it does not dry out. The same applies to pitch pinks outdoors during a dry winter.
Propagate carnation
In order to grow more copies of a carnation, division is suitable for uncomplicated propagation. After pruning in spring, dig up the perennial and cut it into several segments with a spade or knife. A suitable section has at least 2 buds. Maintain the existing planting depth at the new location, add a little compost to the soil and water generously.
Since pitch clove seeds are normal germinators, propagation by sowing is also within a manageable range. You can either sow behind glass in March or directly in the bed from May onwards. With the first flowering, sown carnations often take time until the next year.
Carnation in a pot
In the pot, the small Alpine carnation and the popular cuckoo carnation primarily decorate the sunny balcony or seat in the garden with their colorful flowers. Pitch pinks are less suitable as houseplants because of their hunger for sunlight and tend to form long horny shoots behind glass. For the lime-sensitive Alpine Pitcher, use acidic ericaceous soil as a substrate, while the Cuckoo Campion thrives in normal compost-based potting soil. Ideally, place a piece of pottery over the water drain in the ground as drainage to prevent waterlogging. This is how care works:
- Water regularly, for the Alpine carnation with collected rainwater
- Fertilize liquidly every 2-3 weeks from May to July
- After the first flowering, cut off the stems for subsequent flowering
- Cut the perennial close to the ground before the new shoots at the latest
Although pitchflowers are hardy in beds, this does not apply in small pots. Therefore, move potted plants into bright, frost-free winter quarters before the first frost. Stop fertilizing and water every now and then to prevent the root ball from drying out.
Carnation does not bloom
If the carnation lacks a flower in the year it is planted, you have a two-year-old variety in front of you. These flowers focus their first season on developing a vigorous root system and abundant leaf mass. Just in time for the beginning of the following growing season, you can enjoy the first blooms. This is especially true after sowing.
If the problem occurs on an established perennial, check the pitchflower for diseases and pests. He alth problems can rob a flower of its strength to bloom.
Are campion and campion the same?
According to the traditional view, botanists include the campion in the genus of pitch carnations with the scientific name Lychnis. Due to new findings, some scientists no longer agree with this and classify the pitchfly and its species under the campions, with the scientific name Silene. Since there has so far been no agreement between the divergent views, two generic terms are used for the campion: pitchcrown (Lychnis) and catchfly (Seline). This confusion has no influence on cultivation in the garden.
Beautiful varieties
- Burning Love Plena: impressive carnation with scarlet flower heads, consisting of up to 50 individual flowers
- Cuckoo carnation: red, five-petalled flowers, double to five-fold slitted from June to August, height up to 90 cm
- Alba: white carnation with silvery, hairy shoots and a height of 60-80 cm; unfortunately very short-lived
- Alpine Carnation: Dwarf cushion perennial with purple-red flowers from May and a height of 10-15 cm
- Abbotswood Rose: recommended carnation for the garden, red flowers, wintergreen and cushion-forming
