Dianthus Chinensis: Indian and China Pink Perennials
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
INDIAN PINK, CHINESE PINK
Dianthus chinensis (China Pink; Chinese: shi zhu) is a species of Dianthus native to northern China, Korea, Mongolia, and southeastern Russia. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 30–50 cm tall. The leaves are green to greyish green, slender, 3–5 cm long and 2–4 mm broad. The flowers are white, pink, or red, 3–4 cm diameter, produced singly or in small clusters from spring to mid summer.
Most of the 300 species of carnations are perennials. This is also true of Dianthus chinensis, which does indeed come from China. It has been popular there for centuries and was crossed and selected, so that many cultivars were created. Modern seed improvers have added hundreds more. In The Netherlands, Indian pinks are always grown as annuals.