Dianthus ‘Candy Floss’

Common Name:
Dianthus ‘Candy Floss’

Description:
Dianthus ‘Candy Floss’ is a charming, compact perennial (often treated as a short-lived perennial or biennial edge plant) valued for its profusion of sweetly scented, double pink blooms and neat foliage mound. The blossoms open a delicate candy‑pink and deepen in hue toward the frilled petal edges, producing a romantic and ornamental effect. Flowers are carried above the foliage on slender stalks, making them excellent for cutting. The foliage forms a tidy mound of silvery‑green, narrow leaves, providing year-round structure even when not in bloom. In Melbourne’s climate, this Dianthus does best in full sun with well-drained soil, and will reward you with repeated flowering if spent blooms are removed. It tolerates moderately dry soil once established but dislikes soggy conditions.

Form:
Shrub – Clumping / Mounding
Ground Cover (low-growing habit)

Mature Size:
Height: ~ 25–30 cm
Width / Spread: ~ 35–40 cm

Aspect:
Full Sun
Part Shade

Flowering:
Flowers in Spring
Flowers in Summer
May continue into Autumn (with deadheading)

Flower Colour:
Candy pink
Softer and deeper pink tonal variation

Key Attributes:
Highly fragrant (sweet scent)
Suitable for Pots
Perennial (or perennial/biennial in some conditions)
Bee Attracting
Compact habit, excellent for edging and rockeries
Good for Cut Flowers (long vase life)

Toxicity:
No widely documented toxicity to humans or pets (generally considered non‑toxic)

Companion Plants:
Lavender (for fragrance layering and contrasting foliage)
Salvia (in blue or purple tones for contrast)
Thyme or low creeping herbs
Alpine plants or small rockery species
Other border perennials of complementary height (e.g. low coreopsis, diascia, small salvias)

Plant Growers Australia (PGA) is an innovative wholesale production nursery based in Melbourne, renowned for superior quality garden plants and pioneering breeding programs.
PGA do not sell direct to the public, but their website has detailed information on this species that is available for everyone to access. 
Visit www.pga.com.au for further details and photos of this plant.