Description

Sweet William ‘Giant White’

Dianthus barbatus

500 seeds

Commonly known as Sweet William, Dianthus barbatus is fabulous for filling your garden with long lasting, fragrant early summer blooms. Scented, you can’t beat this ‘Giant White’ variety for floristry.

Tall sturdy stems that last well over a week in the vase, flowers continue to open while in water. Arrange alone, just as it is or use as a filler for larger flowers that need support. You can even cut it early and use as a foliage.

Sow in early Autumn for blooms from late May onwards. Some years I find, there are stems ripe for picking as late as the beginning of August. Keep deadheading to extend the display.

At the end of the season, it will still be producing lush evergreen foliage, just tidy it up and it will bloom again the following year.

Sweet William follow on beautifully from Hesperis matronalis (sweet rocket) another biennial that blooms even earlier, it is well worth growing both.

Sweet Rocket will also bloom the following year if left in situ meaning you can sow fresh every other year for garden decoration.

How to grow:

Because plants need to be exposed to cold Winter conditions as plugs to initiate flowering, you must sow in early Autumn. Started late seeds will germinate but growth will be painfully slow, they might not be able to grow big enough and/or get enough exposure to the cold preventing them from initiating blooming for spring.

Don’t worry if you make a mistake and sow at the wrong time, seeds still germinate and grow, they just won’t flower until year 2.

Seeds like quite a warm germination temperature of 18-25°c, they can be slow and erratic, allow up to 4 weeks for germination. Seedlings have a tendency to get floppy and spindly if they don’t get enough light, give them your best spot in the greenhouse to over winter and keep them well drained.

We will pot on once into 15 cell trays or 9cm pots before hardening off and planting out into the garden as soon as they are big enough, Sweet William is very hardy.

For more detailed growing instructions join our ‘Grow-A-Long’  and for busy gardeners you can now plan ahead with our Autumn Jump Starter Handbook

Details:
Variety:  Dianthus barbatus
Type: Hardy Annual
Position: Full sun in free draining soil.
Sow: Spring or Autumn
Germination: Up to 30 days
Height: 60 cm
Pinching: Not required
Harvest: May/June – July
Seeds per packet: 500

Cutting /Vase Life:
Sweet Williams have an exception vase life, cut flowers can last up to 10 days. Re-fresh the water regularly.

For the longest vase life, pick as soon as flowers begin to open and rest stems in a bucket of water for a few hours (preferably overnight) before arranging, this is called conditioning.