Ll

Carnations 'Dianthus'

By Pick a Posy , 9th January 2018

We wanted to talk about one of the birth flowers of January. The beloved Carnation (Dianthus).

They were first mentioned in greek times 2,000 years ago. Carnations, real name Dianthus, were first grown by the Greeks. The word ‘dios’ refers to the god Zeus & the word ‘anthos’ meaning ‘flower’

Apart from many different colours now grown, they have a great vase life and are grown with great stem length. The average stem to be around 70cm which makes them a firm favourite amongst many flower lovers. Carnations are available in two varieties, first a large single headed bloom per stem and then the Spray Carnations – multi headed flowers per stem. The colours grown now are gorgeous from the pale tones to the more bold.

Apart from the rose, the light red carnations represent admiration, while dark red denotes deep love and affection. So equally meaningful than a rose and less expensive.
      

Carnations will never really set the world on fire but there are some very nice vintage varieties now available which have been very popular in wedding flowers lately. This is a 'Antiqua' more of the vintage type carnation. Very pretty with the light pink and creams.

 

So maybe consider the carnation more when looking for a long vase life flower or to send your loved one next month for Valentine's Day.