{"id":109593,"date":"2026-06-07T14:07:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T18:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109593"},"modified":"2026-06-07T14:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T18:07:33","slug":"on-the-dark-side-with-dianthus-barbatus-sooty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109593","title":{"rendered":"on the dark side with Dianthus barbatus ‘Sooty’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dianthus barbatus ‘Sooty’ with dark-leaved Angelica sylvestris ‘Vicar’s Mead’ in background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Small seedlings of the biennial Dianthus barbatus 'Sooty' were planted out last fall, and I'm happy to report it really lives up to its name.  When the garden was new I used a lot of Dianthus barbatus 'Oeschberg,' a bright magenta, to cover all that bare ground,  so I realized early on with the Oregon garden how invaluable this old-fashioned dianthus can be in late spring.  And this biennial loves the growing conditions here, cool and wet, deep soil, so they bloom for months. There's still a few 'Oeschberg' dianthus in dwindling numbers, so they do seem to act as short-lived perennials here.  Starting fresh from seed mid-summer is the best bet, but cuttings can be taken too.  I might try cuttings with 'Sooty.' \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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These dianthus are well known as cut flowers too.  For me the fragrance of this variety is very light\/nonexistent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My seeds came from Chiltern's in the UK.  (A federal Permit to Import Plant Products is required, and I need to reapply.  I think it lasts for five years.)  I also started a white form that's just starting to bloom on the east side, which was newly dug so still lots of bare ground to cover.  Weird that I chose the extreme ends of the spectrum, white and dark. I might use the white mostly as a cut flower.  I'd hate to cut 'Sooty' from the garden.  I saw masses of mixed color Sweet Williams recently at Old Germantown Gardens, including a peachy-pink strain 'Newport Pink,' all of which would be great for cutting.  For the garden I prefer the dark single color strains like 'Oeschberg' and 'Sooty.'<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Long-stemmed Dianthus barbatus ‘Sooty’ with Verbascum phlomoides  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Small seedlings of Verbascum phlomoides were also planted last fall.  It's an intriguing sight as it twists and elongates a flower bud.  This newly planted area, maybe 4x4,' previously grew Persicaria polymorpha which stretches to 5x5 by summer.  After the persicaria's removal and relocation, there was a lot of bare ground in fall for planting.  Biennials are great for such temporary opportunities, because they're something to watch early in spring, whereas annuals won't be a presence until July at the earliest here at coast.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Centaurea macrocephala, the basket flower, is also at its most intriguing as it twirls and spins into flower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
More twistiness from Centaurea macrocephala, the Bighead Knapweed.  Digging Dog Nursery describes it well:  \"An overgrown, sun-struck relative of the Bachelor Button, this \u201cbig-headed\u201d native of the Caucasus Mountains has so many good qualities you\u2019ll soon be inviting it into your garden. A medium green, rowdy mass of oversized, wavy-edged lanceolate leaves attached to stout stems gives way to intriguing, rust-colored buds as big as a chicken\u2019s egg. Scaled by papery bracts, the bud\u2019s rotund profile opens to offer a large, bright yellow thistle, a cheerful mop of thread-like petals bursting with sunshine and color.\"   <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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the brown bracts or “basket” striptease to reveal a yellow Sweet Sultan-type flower.  Like a lot of herbaceous perennials, the drama is all in the shape-shifting transformations.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
There's three close to the back fence, which may be two too many because these are large plants, at least 3x3.'  The seedlings were discovered one autumn growing in the thatch of the \"basket,\" the seedhead, and a few were pried free and potted up, now growing in my garden.  I wonder if this is common or done by any other plant? The mother plant is still flourishing in a nearby commercial strip with no signs of other seedlings nearby. <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’ with great form, small flowers.  I prefer it to  ‘Blackbeard,’ whose dark leaves are slightly larger in size, with more congested flowering.  I prefer the elegant outline of ‘Dark Towers.’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Along with Dianthus barbatus 'Sooty,' I can't stop adding dark notes to the garden, like dark-leaved penstemon and angelica, Anthriscus 'Ravenswing.' (And a new Astilbe 'Chocolate Shogun.') The earlier they show leaves in spring, the better.  I know too much variegation can get a little hectic, and I use it sparingly, but I haven't found a limit yet to the dark side of planting.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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The dark leaves really emphasize penstemon’s opposite leaf arrangement, like a flock of dark birds taking flight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Billie striking a somber pose, back from a walk to town for Sunday scones.   The beschorneria flower stalk has been cut down — I don’t need the seeds and prefer to let the plant rest.  Near this end of the stock tank a phalanx of shrubs grew until this spring when they were taken out.  Hebe ‘New Zealand Gold, Phlomis monocephala, Ozothamnus x cassinia, all glorious, all needing too much pruning for size here. The potted tetrapanax is the last of the beast taken out last year.  No new sprouts in the garden this spring, knock wood.  Small gardens need defending!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Have a great Sunday! More soon, AGO<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Small seedlings of the biennial Dianthus barbatus ‘Sooty’ were planted out last fall, and I’m happy to report it really lives up to its name. When the garden was new I used a lot of Dianthus barbatus ‘Oeschberg,’ a bright … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-svD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109593"}],"version-history":[{"count":62,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109657,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109593\/revisions\/109657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}