Facts about Carnations

• Also called GRENADINE, OR CLOVE PINK (Dianthus caryophyllus), herbaceous plant of the pink family (Caryophyllaceae), and native to the Mediterranean area. It is widely cultivated for its fringe-petaled flowers, which often have a spicy fragrance.

• Dianthus, its botanical name, means divine flower. Carnation was the flesh-pink colour Elizabethan portrait painters used as a background wash.

• In North America, summers are usually too hot for growing many varieties of carnations. Greenhouse varieties are therefore the norm. Cuttings are taken from stock plants in early winter. They are rooted in damp sand and set out in fields in May. The plants are brought into the green house in late July. The plants are then in bloom from autumn until spring, explaining their popularity for January and again for Valentine's Day. Many plants are grown commercially in climate controlled greenhouses year-round.

• Carnation cut flowers are available all year round. Nowadays florist Carnations are grown near Bogota, Columbia , in Colorado and California, and in Israel, Kenya and Spain. The best growing climate is a cool mountainous region with high light - moderate climates enable low-cost outdoor production with a minimum of protection from cold.

• It is best to buy Carnations before they are fully open. Purchase solitary blooming forms (standard, chinese, and midi types) when the buds are half open. Carnations bearing several flowers on a stem (spray, micro, and dianthini types) are best bought when the majority of the buds are showing color, with a few buds half open. Buy pinks when only a few buds show color. See below for more information on the different types.

• Carnations are the UK's best-selling cut flower, by miles. They are an excellent cut-flower, great value, very long-lasting, Since the 1950's they have been frowned upon by the style gurus, but are now making a comeback.

• Carnations, also called clove pink and gillyflower, are an edible flower with a spicy odor that are native to the Mediterranean region. They can be candied, pickled with spices, and used fresh in salads. In the past it has been used to spice wine and beer, and as a substitute for the more expensive clove

• Carnations are among the most popular cut flowers, used in floral arrangements, corsages, and boutonnieres. In 1907 Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia selected the pink carnation as the symbol for Mother's Day. In Europe the carnation was formerly used as a treatment for fevers. It was also used to spice wine and ale during Elizabethan times, as a substitute for the more expensive clove.

• There are two general groups, the border, or garden, carnations and the perpetual flowering carnations. Border carnations include a range of varieties and hybrids, 30 to 75 cm (1 to 2 1/2 feet) tall; the flowers, in a wide range of colours, are usually less than 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter and are borne on wiry, stiffly erect stems. The bluish green leaves are narrow, sheathing the stems; swellings appear at leaf and stem joints.

• The perpetual flowering carnation, perhaps derived from crosses between the border carnations and the China pink (D. sinensis), is taller, up to 1 m (3 feet) in height, is stouter, and produces larger flowers; it blooms almost continuously in the greenhouse. Miniature (baby) and spray varieties of the perpetual carnation are also grown for the florist trade.