Planting guide

When to plant dianthus

Spicy-scented frilly flowers in clusters, from neat edgers to tall cut types. In Melbourne it goes in Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Flowers in: 13–21 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: pink, red, white, bicolour, purple
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means dianthus can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
London	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Manchester	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Dublin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Seattle	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○

How to plant dianthus

Sow seed in trays in summer or autumn.
Plant out in full sun with good drainage.
Deadhead to extend flowering.
Cut back lightly after the first flush.

Dianthus varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Baby Doll Mix Classicdwarf · mixed · pot-friendly · 13–21 wksMixed colours
Gaiety Double Mix Classicdouble · mixed · 13–21 wksMixed colours
Merry Go Round Classic13–21 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection
Summertime Mix Classicmixed · 13–21 wksMixed colours
Wee Willie Dwarf Mixed Classicdwarf · mixed · pot-friendly · 13–21 wksMixed colours

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Seed Collection

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Dianthus by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Salvia · Echinacea · Gaura · Foxglove · Verbena

Not sure dianthus is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now