Carnation 'Festival Mix' F1

Garden Ready Plants:
Your Dianthus 'Festival Mix' plants arrive well established and ready to plant straight into their final position in pots, containers, beds or borders.

If you can't plant them immediately, keep them in a bright, sheltered position and make sure they don't dry out. Water before planting if the rootballs feel dry.

Choose a sunny position with fertile, well-drained soil. Plant at the same depth they were growing in their tray, gently firm the soil or compost around the roots and water thoroughly after planting.

Space plants around 20cm apart to give their naturally bushy growth room to develop into a full display.

Choose pots and containers with good drainage holes and fill with good-quality multipurpose compost. Gently firm the compost rather than packing it down tightly, leaving around 2–3cm below the rim to make watering easier.

Dianthus 'Festival Mix' has a compact, bushy habit and looks particularly effective planted in groups. Space plants around 20cm apart, allowing enough room for them to fill out without becoming overcrowded.

In larger containers, repeat the same spacing or combine Festival Mix with other seasonal bedding. Water thoroughly after planting and keep the compost moist but not waterlogged.

Top tip:
Position a pot somewhere you'll regularly pass it, such as beside a doorway, path or seating area, so you can enjoy the sweet fragrance as well as the flowers.

Dianthus 'Festival Mix' works beautifully with other autumn and spring bedding, adding both fragrance and a different flower shape to mixed displays.

Try pairing it with pansies or violas for contrasting blooms, or combine with taller wallflowers to add another layer of height and scent. Primroses also work well around the front of larger pots and borders.

Spring-flowering bulbs such as dwarf daffodils and tulips can be planted between your Dianthus in autumn, emerging in spring to add extra height and colour.

Top tip:
Plant several Festival Mix plants together rather than scattering them individually. A generous group gives you a stronger hit of colour and lets the fragrance build as more flowers open.

Keep your Dianthus watered during dry spells, particularly plants growing in pots and containers, but avoid leaving the compost waterlogged.

As flowers fade, snip off the spent flower stem just above a healthy set of leaves. Removing the whole faded flower rather than just the petals keeps plants tidy and encourages further blooms.

Flowering may slow during colder winter weather. This is normal – keep the plants cared for and they should produce fresh growth and flowers again as conditions improve.

Container-grown plants can be given a liquid feed while actively growing to support fresh flowers. There's little need to feed during very cold weather when growth has slowed.

Top tip:
Dianthus prefers good drainage, especially during the cooler months. Avoid allowing pots to sit in trays or saucers full of water for long periods.

Professional Grower Plugs:
Supplied in trays of 20 or 60, Professional Grower Plugs offer excellent value and are ideal for gardeners who enjoy growing plants on themselves. These young plants arrive ready to be potted into 9cm pots and grown on in a bright, sheltered position before being hardened off and planted into their final position.

Garden Ready Plants:
Garden Ready Plants are our largest plug plants and a great choice if you want quicker results. Carefully grown on before dispatch, they're ready to plant straight into beds, borders, pots or containers.