'Firewitch' is a great Dianthus to grow, but you need to know what it likes. It likes a lean and well drained soil. I always add all purpose sand that I get at Lowe's (inside store) to the planting hole and top it with small gravel for the mulch. I used to use small pea gravel, which was fine, but now I started using small crushed limestone gravel. I also add some gypsum into the hole to help with the drainage and add a little garden lime, since it's likes an alkaline soil.

Don't use wood mulch and don't make the planting hole rich with organic matter for this plant. Remember, it likes a lean soil.

The scent of the flowers is wonderfully fragrant! The flowers are magenta in color. They're small, but you'll get a lot of flowers. After the first flush of flowers have faded, cut back, but not too short, and you'll get another flush of flowers. You can deadhead each individual flower, which I've done in the past or shear the whole plant.

I love 'Firewitch' and love growing it! This is my favorite Dianthus to grow out of all the Dianthus varieties! Wouldn't be without it. I'm thinking about planting it in a container just to enjoy it more throughout our growing season!

This was the 2006 Plant of the Year.

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Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) 'Firewitch' is a delightful dianthus cultivar. The foliage is a grass-like silvery green, and the magenta blossoms bloom profusely from late spring to late summer. Unfortunately, I included too much rich organic material in the soil, and I over-mulched, and it ended up with root rot midway through its second season. I really liked this Dianthus cultivar, though, and may get it again someday.

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