Maiden Pinks
Maiden Pinks
Maiden Pinks

Multi Buy

Size Guide
3.5
3.5" Perennial
3 or more $6.00 ea
Regularly: $6.99 ea

Maiden Pinks

Scott's Nursery Ltd.

$3.50
Title

Weave a stunning, vibrant living carpet across your sunny landscapes. This classic garden favourite forms an exceptionally dense, low-growing mat of fine, grass-like green foliage that erupts into a dazzling sea of small, starburst blossoms. Each delicate flower features sharply fringed, pinking-shear edges and a sweet, spicy scent. It radiates a cheerful, high-contrast charm that fills rocky crevices, garden borders, and masonry paths with endless energy.
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Plant Details

Mature Size:

6" H x 18" W

Zone:

3-9

Watering:

Low

Type:

Herbaceous Evergreen Perennial

Growth Rate:

Moderate - Fast

Light:

Full Sun

Plant Profile

Common Names:

Maiden Pinks, Meadow Pinks, Wild Pink, Deltoid Pink

Scientific Name:

Dianthus deltoides

Type:

Spiller / Groundcover / Rockery Ornamental

Growth Details:

Mature Size: 6 to 8 inches tall with a dense, creeping spread of 12 to 24 inches.

Growth Habit: Creeping, prostrate, mat-forming groundcover.

Form: Extremely dense, flat, cushion-like turf.

Growth Rate: Medium to fast.

Flowering: Bountiful sheets of single, 5-petaled fringed blossoms.

Flowering Time: Late spring through mid-summer, with a light secondary wave in autumn if sheared.

Flower Colour: Shades of rich rose-pink, crimson-red, or delicate white, typically displaying a darker inner contrast ring.

Environmental Needs:

Exposure: Full sun. Tolerates a tiny amount of light afternoon shade in hot, arid summer climates.

Soil Preferences: Loose, lean, gritty, neutral-to-alkaline, sharply well-drained soils.

Soil Tolerance: Exceptional tolerance for nutrient-poor substrates, gritty sand, gravel, and chalky limestone; completely intolerant of heavy, soggy winter clay.

Watering: Low to moderate. Allow the top few inches of soil to dry out completely between watering intervals.

Container Role: Functions beautifully as a low, spreading Filler or texturizing, cascading Spiller in shallow alpine pots and stone planters.

Special Features:

Disease Resistances: Exceptional natural resistance to powdery mildew, rust, and pests; crown rot is a risk only if overwatered.

Native Species: No (Native to Europe and parts of western Asia).

Fast Growing: Yes (Quickly establishes dense carpets).

Attracts: Highly alluring to native butterflies, honeybees, and specialized long-tongued insect pollinators.

Uses: Walkway edging, alpine rock gardens, green roofs, gaps in dry-stone walls, and small cut-flower bouquets.

Resistance: Highly deer-resistant and rabbit-resistant due to the spicy, clove-scented essential compounds within the plant tissues.
Care Guide

Ornamental & Landscape Value

Seasonal Interest:

Bloom Information: Highly showy, carpet-like display of fragrant, colorful blooms that completely coat the green foliage framework.

Fall Colour: Leaves transition from a rich grassy green to a beautiful, dark purplish-bronze as temperatures drop in autumn, providing year-round texture.

Garden Value:

Ornamental Interest: Vivid sheets of clove-scented fringed flowers hovering over low, moss-like green turf that often develops deep bronze tones in chilly winter weather.

Landscaping Uses: Ideal for cascading over stone walls, planting between stepping stones or path flagstones, rockeries, alpine troughs, and securing sunny banks.

Garden / Landscape Benefits: Highly effective, low-maintenance, weed-suppressing groundcover that withstands intense heat, high winds, and extended dry periods.

Wildlife & Human Value:

Wildlife Value: Serves as an excellent nectar oasis for butterflies and early-season solitary bees.

Human Value: The heavily fringed blossoms are edible and can be used to dress up upscale salads, garnish desserts, or infuse syrups. Offers incredible, zero-maintenance curb appeal.

Planting & Care Guide

Planting Considerations:

Best Time To Plant: Early spring as soon as the ground can be worked, or early autumn.

Spacing: Space individual starts 12 to 15 inches apart to allow the creeping branches room to root and knit cleanly.

Location Tips: Must be planted in an elevated or sloped position with perfect drainage; avoid low garden hollows where winter water puddles.

Companion Plants: Pairs magnificently with creeping Thyme, Blue Fescue Grass, low-growing Sedums, and alpine Bellflowers (Campanula).

Care:

Light Requirements: Demands absolute full sun to keep its dense foliar carpet tight and maximize its heavy spring blooming potential.

Moisture Requirements: Needs moderate watering until established; becomes highly drought-resistant and self-reliant once its roots map out the soil.

Maintenance, Fertilization: Shear the spent flower stems down to the foliage level with hedging shears right after the primary summer flush to encourage a clean, fresh wave of autumn blooms. Feed with a weak application of balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring; avoid over-fertilizing.

Tolerances:

High tolerance for intense summer heat, severe drought, nutrient-poor soil, road salt, and rocky conditions.

Tips For Success:

Thinning / Pinching: Not needed for structure, but old mats can be easily divided every 3 to 4 years in early spring to rejuvenate the crown and propagate new plants.

Support / Staking: Completely unnecessary; stays locked tightly to the ground profile.

Special Needs: Avoid piling thick, heavy bark mulch over the crown of the plant, as this traps moisture and causes stem decay.

Mulching: Use a thin layer of fine gravel, grit, or pea gravel around the collar to deflect surface moisture.

Winter Protection: None required; completely frost-hardy and semi-evergreen through punishing northern winters.
Fruit Profile