I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders with
easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the first time. I
love the flowers and was looking forward to them coming back each year. Of
the 6 plants I put in the front garden, none have come back this year, not a
trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig left over
compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Any ideas?

Kate

Simon Tomlinson wrote:
I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them
coming back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden,
none have come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig
left over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Any ideas?

Kate

There, my friend, lies your problem. You have sandy soil, which is acid, and
Dianthus (if memory serves, not grown them for a while) need alkaline.

Adding (ordinary) compost won't change the pH of the soil (not to a vast
degree, anyway). You need to add lime, or compost containing lime, to
correct the pH. I would also recommend picking up a pH testing kit, which
can be bought in most garden centres for a pound or two.

Take a lump of soil and mix it with distilled or deionised water (*not* tap
water as that tends to be slightly alkaline and will give a false result).
Leave it to settle and then test the liquid. This should give you a fairly
accurate measurement.

You're now probably thinking "where can I find distilled or deionised
water?" Can't help you there (someone else might be able to though). I
haven't tested the soil where I am (South Bucks, but sand) for a while and,
the last time I did, I persuaded the lab tech at my old school (who was the
lab tech when I was there) to give me a bottle. She did - she filled an old
2L soda bottle - I'm sure I must have some left somewhere at the back of the
shed.

Anyway, the upshot of it is, you need to significantly raise the pH.

Sarah

P.S. The information above should be checked with a knowledgeable source, as
the correspondent knows absolutely nothing about gardening other than what
she's learnt from watching /Gardener's World/.


--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/

On 10/5/05 22:52, in article , "Simon
Tomlinson" wrote:

I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders with
easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the first time. I
love the flowers and was looking forward to them coming back each year. Of
the 6 plants I put in the front garden, none have come back this year, not a
trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig left over
compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Kate, when my husband moved to Devon from Essex, he grew Dianthus
commercially for some time and sent them off to flower markets. So I've
asked him for his answer to your question.
Ray says: Miss PT is quite correct that they like lime but they need to be
well drained, too. What they do hate is being very wet. He asks where you
live and when you planted them? And he suggests that if you planted them
late in the year, that could be another reason for their failure. Plant
them in the spring so that they get really well-established before winter
arrives again.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sacha wrote:
On 10/5/05 22:52, in article ,
"Simon Tomlinson" wrote:

I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them
coming back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden,
none have come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig
left over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Kate, when my husband moved to Devon from Essex, he grew Dianthus
commercially for some time and sent them off to flower markets. So
I've asked him for his answer to your question.
Ray says: Miss PT is quite correct that they like lime but they need
to be well drained, too. What they do hate is being very wet. He
asks where you live and when you planted them? And he suggests that
if you planted them late in the year, that could be another reason
for their failure. Plant them in the spring so that they get really
well-established before winter arrives again.

Thank you, Sacha, I'm still learning. I'm coming down your way at some point
(I don't plan my holidays, they just seem to happen!) so I may very well
drop in on the nursery.

--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/

On 11/5/05 9:58, in article ,
"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 10/5/05 22:52, in article ,
"Simon Tomlinson" wrote:

I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them
coming back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden,
none have come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig
left over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Kate, when my husband moved to Devon from Essex, he grew Dianthus
commercially for some time and sent them off to flower markets. So
I've asked him for his answer to your question.
Ray says: Miss PT is quite correct that they like lime but they need
to be well drained, too. What they do hate is being very wet. He
asks where you live and when you planted them? And he suggests that
if you planted them late in the year, that could be another reason
for their failure. Plant them in the spring so that they get really
well-established before winter arrives again.

Thank you, Sacha, I'm still learning. I'm coming down your way at some point
(I don't plan my holidays, they just seem to happen!) so I may very well
drop in on the nursery.

We'll look forward to meeting you. The nursery number is 01803 762273 or
drop me an email to let me know when and if you're coming and we'll be sure
to be here. I'd love to suggest another urg meet here this year but there
just aren't enough months in the year this year!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Miss Perspicacia Tick wrote:
[...]
You're now probably thinking "where can I find distilled or
deionised
water?" Can't help you there (someone else might be able to
though).[...]

Halford's etc. Melting clean frost from a freezer should do, too.

But I don't really hold with soil testing for ordinary amateur
gardening: the plants usually tell you all you need to know, and
perhaps more reliably.

--
Mike.

"Simon Tomlinson" wrote in
:

I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them coming
back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden, none have
come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig left
over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Any ideas?


Most dianthus take very easily from cuttings, so if you buy a new batch,
you might like to take cuttings in autumn as a backup and keep them on a
windowsill or something. If you get it right overwintering them outside
this time, I am sure you can find another place for the spares!

I have found they are often not very long-lived plants, so apart from the
suggestions already made, if the ones you planted were quite big, they
might just have been too old to make it through the winter?

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

Sacha wrote:
On 11/5/05 9:58, in article
, "Miss Perspicacia
Tick" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 10/5/05 22:52, in article
, "Simon Tomlinson"
wrote:

I am an enthusiastic amateur, filling lots of pots and some borders
with easy plants each year. Last year I planted Dianthus for the
first time. I love the flowers and was looking forward to them
coming back each year. Of the 6 plants I put in the front garden,
none have come back this year, not a trace.

What did I do wrong? The soil is quite sandy and poor, but I dig
left over compost in regularly and this has helped other bedding.

Kate, when my husband moved to Devon from Essex, he grew Dianthus
commercially for some time and sent them off to flower markets. So
I've asked him for his answer to your question.
Ray says: Miss PT is quite correct that they like lime but they need
to be well drained, too. What they do hate is being very wet. He
asks where you live and when you planted them? And he suggests that
if you planted them late in the year, that could be another reason
for their failure. Plant them in the spring so that they get really
well-established before winter arrives again.

Thank you, Sacha, I'm still learning. I'm coming down your way at
some point (I don't plan my holidays, they just seem to happen!) so
I may very well drop in on the nursery.

We'll look forward to meeting you. The nursery number is 01803
762273 or drop me an email to let me know when and if you're coming
and we'll be sure to be here. I'd love to suggest another urg meet
here this year but there just aren't enough months in the year this
year!

Thank you, Sacha, now all I have to do is sort out the finances. The govt
doesn't make it easy - my disability is £180pw and irregularly paid! But
then it's not supposed to be easy, is it? ;o) Know of any reasonably priced
accommodation? I want to go to Eden and Heligan, my mother wants to go to
The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth (her late father was a supporter of the
sanctuary for over 30 years and he left them a legacy).

So much to do, so little time. But the home made cakes sound mighty
tempting... ;o) Made by your own fair hand, I trust...? Surely you don't
have a chef...? ;o)


--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/

On 12/5/05 2:35, in article ,
"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote:

snip

Thank you, Sacha, now all I have to do is sort out the finances. The govt
doesn't make it easy - my disability is £180pw and irregularly paid! But
then it's not supposed to be easy, is it? ;o) Know of any reasonably priced
accommodation? I want to go to Eden and Heligan, my mother wants to go to
The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth (her late father was a supporter of the
sanctuary for over 30 years and he left them a legacy).

The problem with living in a place is that you know little about
accommodation because you never use it! I do know that your local library
might have a book which is something like "Gardeners' favourite B&Bs", which
is excellent. But there is such a huge number of such places that your best
idea might be an internet hunt, too.

So much to do, so little time. But the home made cakes sound mighty
tempting... ;o) Made by your own fair hand, I trust...? Surely you don't
have a chef...? ;o)

No, we have a very nice young cook. ;-) Me and cooking have never been
very close buddies! Last year, both the cook her and her stand-in were ill
and for one terrifying day I had to make all the cakes and I hadn't made a
cake in 20 years! They turned out okay and at least nobody suggested using
them as doorstops....
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Miss
Perspicacia Tick writes

There, my friend, lies your problem. You have sandy soil, which is acid,

Why is sandy soil acid?


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"