Dianthus Here is a link that might be useful: Dianthus

Thanks for the replies, but we are still on the track for ID of this plant. Greenthumbzdud said it looked like a Begonia 'Bonfire', but if you look at the leaves, the leaves on my plant have jagged edgies to the leaves, and the red part of the plant is quite meaty. Someone else mentioned a cactus. No, definately not a cactus. Any other ideas would be welcome and thanks for taking the time to reply.

Could someone please help me id this flower, no one at my garden centers can figure it out! I thought I could upload photo, but I don't see how....I'll do my best to describe it, from what I remember. The photo I took shows a small five pointed star shaped flower. It was not a lot bigger than my thumb nail. The tips of the petals are red, and then there is a stripe of golden yellow and toward the inside of the flower is speckled yellow, and then orange/yellow. The blossoms were on a soft grey branch like stem. I have no idea what the foliage looks like as it is not in the photo. Any ideas?? I can email a photo if that would help since I couldn't figure out how to load it. THANK YOU

Irene General advice is not to use layer of pebbles on bottom of the pot. You did say:..."Putting pebbles in the bottom of a dish is the best thing so the water can drain out of the soil"...and if you meant saucer/drainage dish, then I am reading your message wrongly and misunderstood. Using layer of pebbles to raise the pot higher will work, but there is still standing water. If you mean container itself, there shouldn't be any layers. This is faulty advice that will temporary slow down possible rotting of the roots of plant kept without proper drainage - and that is potting mix, and the container. Container should have drainage holes - anything could be a container and look good, but drainage holes should be drilled in it. Different materials need to be thoroughly mixed, they should be of approx. same size to create fast draining mix, not layered. These are considered best growing conditions for succulents. Sure, you can grow in water retaining soil or in sand, or in a container without drainage and even in water - and plants may look fine for a while. But those are not best conditions for a long term of heath of plant, and even for convenience of the grower (has to be much more attentive to the watering...)