Cottage pinks
Dianthus plumarius · Caryophyllaceae
The old-fashioned garden pink: fringed, clove-scented flowers in pink, white or red over mats of grey-blue, grassy leaves in early summer.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 16 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to late June
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around cottage pinks
The planner designed this bed around cottage pinks when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why cottage pinks stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Cottage pinks × 13, pink
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 17, pink
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 4 Switchgrass 'Cheyenne Sky' × 8, purple
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 68% of the edge.
- 13 plants in 3 runs (5, 5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Silver sage is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late May to late June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With star of Persia and ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 45% of the visual weight and the right half 55%. There is more sedum 'Lidakense' than anything else, 17 plants in all.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where cottage pinks goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
The scent is the reason to grow it, so it belongs beside a path or a seat. Pinks need lime and drainage; they sulk in acid, wet soil.
- Scented edging
- Cottage gardens
- Cut flowers
What to plant with cottage pinks
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English lavender 'Hidcote': in flower together for two weeks, from late June; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for six weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Lamb's ear: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones; spires rising out of its mound.
Questions about cottage pinks
Does cottage pinks need sun or shade?
Cottage pinks grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does cottage pinks grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does cottage pinks flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early June to early July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 5 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to late June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to late June |
| Zone 8 | Early May to late June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should cottage pinks be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 16 in (40 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many cottage pinks plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used 13 in three groups.
Is cottage pinks poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. May cause mild stomach upset if eaten. Handling the plant can irritate skin.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like cottage pinks?
These come closest to doing what cottage pinks does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Common thyme: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; lavender, not pink.
- Wall germander: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to early August.
- Sea thrift: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 4 in shorter.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat cottage pinks?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after cottage pinks?
Cottage pinks is over by late June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- English lavender 'Hidcote': from late June to late July, 18 in tall (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does cottage pinks look like in winter?
Cottage pinks keeps its blue-green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is cottage pinks good for bees and butterflies?
Cottage pinks is visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Dianthus
- Carthusian pink Dianthus carthusianorum
- Cheddar pinks 'Bath's Pink' Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink'
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Firewitch'
- Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Tiny Rubies'
- Cottage pinks 'Mrs Sinkins' Dianthus plumarius 'Mrs Sinkins'
- Dianthus 'Kahori' Dianthus 'Kahori'
- Fringed pink Dianthus superbus
- Maiden pinks Dianthus deltoides
- Sweet William Dianthus barbatus
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Plants for a white garden
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 16 in (40 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; pink, white, red
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Alps to North Western Balkan Peninsula
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.