Pretty pinks

Pinks have withstood the test of time and are gracing our gardens with fragrant blooms just as they did back in Tudor and Elizabethan times, says Anne Swithinbank

- Anne Swithinbank

ALTHOUGH modest and perhaps even slightly old-fashioned, there is a lot to love about pinks. Whether heritage, long-flowering, alpine or laced, there will be several to suit your garden, and young plants take well from a spring planting. Give them the sunny, well-drained spot they deserve, water them during dry spells and these hardy perennial plants will make well-behaved mounds of grey-green leaves and bloom year after year.

Alternative names

Pinks belong to the genus Dianthus that includes carnations and sweet Williams. Although their flowers are often pink, the name comes from the ‘pinking’ or serration of petals at their tips. Another, older name is gillyflower, though this can apply to a whole range of old-fashioned scented plants such as wallflowers and stocks. Another name ‘sops in wine’ came about because the deliciously clove-scented flowers were a cheap alternative to true cloves for flavouring wine. The petals are edible and used for decorating salads and cakes.

Long-flowering garden pinks