My Dad always enjoyed the Sweet Williams my Mom planted. The flowers are big heads of pink, rose, white, crimson and bicolors and smell like cloves. Mom always grew them and once we got a garden I did too.
Sweet Williams in Bloom – Picture from Wikipedia
Sweet Williams are supposed to be biennials in Michigan, but we had plants survive for 18 years in our old house. I was amazed the first year. The plants usually reseed themselves so in the fall I went out to cut the seed heads and shake them over the garden, but some of the plants were still alive. As a lark I left them and sure enough, they came back the next year. The plants that were so hardy also were beautiful with deep colors, frilly flowers and smelled heavenly.
They bloom in June, which is great since the bulbs are done, peonies and iris will be dwindling and it’s before the big daylily / phlox / lily / annual extravaganza.
Of course I planted seeds here this spring. The seeds are smallish, about the size of poppy seeds that you get on rolls, black and flat. They are easy to plant and I didn’t worry about planting too thickly since they would need to be thinned.
Sweet William – Thin Me Please!
Yes, they do need thinning! I can’t stand the idea of killing healthy plants that will have beautiful flowers next year. Here I divided a big bunch and replanted, each with a reasonable space to grow and thrive.
Sweet William After Thinning
With luck and good weather these will reseed (and hopefully a few of the best will prove perennial) and cover this section. The end of this garden plot is about 4 feet by 5 feet and the other flowers are iris, daylilies and a few peonies. It should be lovely next spring!
Sweet William Plants Ready to Grow
I had a hard time finding regular Dianthus Barbatus Sweet William seeds online to pull in a picture. Amazon has them – a bit of a surprise! I didn’t know Amazon sold seeds.
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