Dianthus barbatus

Sweet Williams

Our garden is mostly shaded by large deciduous trees both in the garden and on all sides of it. A logical response to these conditions would be to focus on growing shade-loving plants, but we seem to be constantly pressing the shade tolerance of plants in our garden. While Sweet Williams do produce more flowers in full sun, we’ve found that they will still bloom reliably in quite shady conditions. The flowers stay fresh longer out of the direct sun, too. Either way, it’s a good idea to deadhead the flowers, because if you do, they will just go on and on reblooming. They make excellent cut flowers with a long vase life. Sometime along the way, the plants will find an opportunity to set seed and you’ll have hundreds of seedlings germinating around the original plants, ensuring you next year’s flowers.

$4 pint

$6 quart

$8 gallon