if you trace down a stem.. at a leaf node.. you ought to be able to see small buds.. and when you cut the above off ... those should become active ...

that said ... i gave up on them long ago.. mostly because of their rather short PRIME season ...

i would call them a late spring/early summer plant ... and once they shoot their wad ... you then look for some similar scent for the dog days of summer.. such as phlox ...

just because you deadhead something.. does not mean that you can make it bloom all summer .... you might extend it a bit.. but not much will bloom forever ... [soem annuals will.. but this is a perennial]

ken

Did your Dianthus only have one flower all season? Or, are you saying that after prior flowering, you only got one rebloom?

Depending on the species and cultivar, Dianthus might not provide much in the way of rebloom. I normally deadhead by grabbing a huge clump of stems in my fist and then give one good snip with with a pruners or scissors. Much more efficient than trying to deadhead each indvidual flower.

Thanks Ken, This really helps me. I'll go to the nursery to see if I can find phlox.
Okay, I thought deadheading meant you would get repeating blooms all summer. My petunias bloom all summer long after I constantly deadhead.

a2zmom, thank you. No, in the beginning few weeks it had lots of flowers. But after deadheading they don't seem to come back. Which is why I thought I was doing it wrong.

When you grab a clump of stems in your hand, where do you cut? Yes, I've been chopping off each one at a time.

Be sure to do some research before bringing plants home so that you know how they will perform in your climate.

Thanks again a2zmom, you've been very helpful to me. I'll try this on the plant that has only has one remaining flower but lots of stems.

rhizo - Yes, I will research. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes when you're in the garden centre you see a plant and decide right there and then that you've just got to have it. So you buy it and find out it's the wrong zone or it gets too tall or really difficult to care for. I will definitely keep this in mind the next time I'm in the garden centre. Thanks again.

Ken_adrian wrote: i gave up on them long ago.. mostly because of their rather short PRIME season ...

I think you should reconsider Ken; is 1 month of flowering good enough for you? I can tell you that my Dianthus Heart Attack is worth the real estate in my garden for its spectacular flowers that did last for 4 weeks. Here it is from this past spring, coming into full bloom:

(For dead heading I took the shrub shears to these plants. One does get some small flowers, so a bit of colour a few weeks later but nothing to write home about).

Rose de Mai, an heirloom variety will bloom all summer with the right conditions. (Shown here with Geranium 'Johnson's Blue')

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I'm currently growing 'Arctic Fire' and that's another long bloomer. It often gets a nice rebloom in the fall.

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All my dianthus bloom for a month or longer, once the plants get established (sometimes 3 years).
rouge21, I love your pic of Heart Attack. I might have to try that, maybe it will survive for a while here.

rouge1...those are beautiful dianthus. I'd show you my pics but I'm too embarrased. haha

mytime...Your dianthus are lovely. I definitely want Rose de Mai. I'm going to look for it next year. It is stunning!

Cadence, you'll probably have to order Rose de Mai online. I got mine from Joy Creek Nursery. They have a large selection of dianthus to choose from, over 20 different varieties and cultivars.

Thanks cadence and cadence. Beautiful pictures a2zmom.

In part I choose Heart Attack as it is advertised as being truly perennial (rather than biennial as many Sweet William can be).

Oops...I meant also to thank mytime as well for the kind words.

In my NC 7b area, my dianthus have been blooming since we put them in sometime in March and beginning of April...and they are still going very strong, despite our constant 90-100 degree temps. These are the cheap ones from the box stores. They don't seem to require a lot of water, either. I'm thinking of putting in more next year, as they are also very pretty!

rouge 1...I wondered why you were thanking me twice? lol and then I thought maybe there is another cadence on the forum. (lol)

a2zmom. Thank you. I will bookmark that nursery. Again, your roses are magnificent!

My dianthus bloom almost all summer long and this year they decided to bloom in January in the snow, now it's almost July and still going. And I live in Minnesota zone 5.

Happen to know which kind you have Dodi?

I was wondering this myself. But reading this, I must be doing it right as mine blooms well for a good month or longer and since I have different ground covers next to it, they all bloom at different times so it's totally worth it.

Same here, Ginny. I thought I did not do it correctly las year because it did not rebloom.