The Best Carnations to Grow for Cut Flowers  

(Dianthus caryophylus) Gillyflower (Europe)

Carnations have long been one of the most popular cut flowers. The best varieties for cutting are the Chabaud’s. They’re taller than other landscape carnations you find nurseries and come in a wide array of colors and variations. And they’re famous for their sweet-spicy clove fragrance.

The big florist carnations are grown commercially in greenhouses where they reach up to 4 ft. tall! The side buds on each stem are removed to allow the plant to send more of its energy to the terminal flower—to make them large. They’re propagated by cuttings or by layering (more on that in the Special Info section).

But in home gardens you can grow nice carnations very easily by seed. They’re tough plants and you’ll enjoy them for their colors, spicy clove fragrance, and long-lasting cut flowers in the vase.

Plus, the flowers are edible! Garnish salads, desserts, cakes, cold drinks, and soups with the petals. But remove the petals from the flower base, the base is too bitter.

Carnations come from the Mediterranean where they’ve been cultivated for over 2,000 years. For more history read the Special Info section below.

For those of you who wonder if you can start a new carnation plant from a cut flower, I’d say it’s highly unlikely. The flowering stems are geared for flowering growth and not rooting. You may be able to take a leafy shoot from a carnation plant and treat it with rooting hormone and root it. Conditions need to be pretty sterile, moisture maintained, and more. (See more in Special Info below) But from a cut flower bouquet, I really doubt it would work. If you have cherished cut carnation flowers, it may be better to simply dry them, or remove the petals to dry them to make a memento.

Carnation flowers and plants

Carnations have a clove-like fragrance, flowers are often fully double with petals slightly fringed at the ends. Some have stripes, some are picotee—which means the edges of the petals are lined with a darker color, making them really stand out in a bouquet. Some even have speckles.

They come in all hues of pink, magenta, peach, pale yellow, white, and red. Blooms are 1½-2 in. across. Flower stems can be from 1-2 ft. tall.

Chabaud’s is the best variety to grow in the garden.

They bloom in late spring to early summer. With deadheading you’ll get a few more again in the late summer. This makes it only mildly a cut-and-come-again flower.

The flowers last 7-10 days or longer in the vase.

The plants are perennial in Zones 3-9. But see the how to grow section for more on this. It’s usually best if they’re grown as an annual. Their foliage is blue-green with lance-shaped leaves, and thick, rounded joints at the nodes.

Plants grow to 1½ – 2½ ft tall and wide.

These are fairly tough plants, tolerating heat and dry conditions.

Carnations are deer resistant. I’ve watched browsing deer sniff and walk away from my carnations. But, during high-pressure deer years I wouldn’t risk it.

If you have garden carnation (Dianthus) plants you can try them in your landscape plantings. But for cutting carnations I always keep it on the safe side and grow carnations in deer-fenced areas.

How to grow carnations

Zones: 3-9, but in 6-8 they perform best when grown as an annual, for colder zones grow as an annual; Sun: Full; Water: regular, let soil dry between waterings, or keep a little on the dry side.

Good garden soil that drains well is best; slightly alkaline, pH 6.7-6.9.  Space plants at 6 – 12 in. apart.

Chabaud’s carnations are best started by seed. Seeds offer the best selection of colors and mixes to choose from. Start plants from seed early indoors in strong light. Or outdoors in seeding trays with protection from hard frost. (See my procedure using Speedling trays outdoors.)

They take 3-4 months to bloom. At the end of the season you should be able to let them overwinter for an early bloom the following spring.

You can also grow cutting carnations in containers—a one gallon size is good.

If you’re in a colder zone grow Chabaud’s as an annual. In this case you must start them 6-8 weeks before the last frost date because it takes up to 4 months to bloom when started from seed.

How to harvest cutting carnations

Harvest a bit after flowers start to open. Cut at the bottom of the stem and condition in the usual way. Deadhead any you don’t use for bouquets. That way the plant can put more energy into producing a second round of flowers.

Carnations send up flowering stems to flower over a fairly long time, but not all season.

My favorite varieties

The Chabaud’s varieties are the best for cutting flowers. Many seed packs will be a mix of colors or markings. One of my favorites has been stripes and picotees. I like them because of how their flashy details stand out on a smallish flower in a bouquet.

Sources for Chabaud’s seeds

Johnny’s Seeds: They have a great selection including the stripes and picotee types

Botanical Interests: They have a nice mix of carnations so you don’t have to think about making decisions

And you’ll find many Chabaud’s mix seed packets at your local nursery.

Special info on carnations

In 1851 Joseph Breck, founder of Breck’s bulb company, wrote “There is no flower more desirable in the flower-garden than the Carnation. A well-grown, superior variety, cannot be surpassed, in elegance, beauty, or odor by any other flower…”

Breck went on to give evidence that carnations were, generally, not very stable when grown from seed and described in detail the much preferred method for producing new plants, known as layering, saying, “The propagation of the Carnation by layers is a very simple operation”…and he goes on to describe the simple propagation process by layering. This excerpt is from Carnation – A Little History and Some Growing Instructions.

The article says that the Chabaud variety of carnations were introduced by a French firm in 1870 and it’s still considered one of the best carnations yet. And it is started by seed.

There is a great duo of French films, Jean de Florette and its companion Manon of the Spring, where you can see the passion there was for the new carnation! And how they planned to propagate them. They’re period pieces, and interesting; you may be able to stream or rent them. (Caution, it’s a sad story.)

Flowers to go with carnations

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