Say "carnation" and some gardeners are likely to think of their grandmother's flowers and immediately move on. Not so fast. As a recovering plant snob, I have come to appreciate the great variety now available from this venerable genus. Far from being a pedestrian flower, some of the less common varieties are real showstoppers. That doesn't mean they have stopped being reliable and tough, long-blooming plants, but the range in color and type of flower would knock your grandmother's socks off.
There are more than 300 species of dianthus, and most of those flooding garden centers are cultivars of what are known as border or rock garden carnations or "pinks."
Flowers may be single, double or semi-double. They are also grouped by patterns: self (single color); fancy (with stripes or flakes); picotee (with contrasting margins); bicolor (contrasting center) and laced (contrasting center, margined in same color). Many exude a spicy fragrance.
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