Using Carnations
In its wild form, Clove Pink or Gilly Flower is very aromatic and can be used to flavour syrups, fruit cups, sherberts, tea, icecubes and beverages. The more ornamental Carnations and Pinks developed by breeders have shorter stems and more petals, but lack most of the fragrance of the species.
How to Propagate Carnations
SEEDS - If you start from seeds, plant them indoors or in a greenhouse just as the forest tree leaves are beginning to appear in your areas. Here, our first Alder leaves emerge in mid-March, so that is when I would sow carnation seeds here. Use a well-drained mix such as cacti and succulent potting soil or Sunshine #1 with some sand added. The seed germinates in 2 to 3 weeks at 65 to 75 degrees. From seeds, plants will bloom in 6 to 9 months if your climate is mild, but in most areas they will not bloom until the following summer.
CUTTINGS - You can take a cutting off any carnation, even after it has bloomed. In fact, the flower stem is often the only place where a carnation will form a stalk long enough to take a cutting from. It is best to take carnation cuttings in early Fall. They will root at the swollen node hidden beneath each leaf. Cut at an angle just below a node, and trim off the top, leaving 1 node for roots at the bottom and one at the top for the growth to come out of. Remember which side is up. Dab the bottom in #1 rooting powder. Then stick into well-drained soil in pots or in a cutting or seedling tray.
LAYERING - This is the easiest way to propagate carnations and they will actually do this themselves once mature. Observing a mature clump of carnations, seek out sturdy stems pointing away from the centre of the clump. If you look at the bottoms of these stems they will often be rooted, and if they are not yet, you can promote rooting by bending them down to touch the soil. Keep them pinned down with a rock, a stick, or whatever else. Cut off any flowers that are growing on that particular stem. Within a few weeks you will see your new plant rooting. Once the roots seem 4 to 5 inches long, cut this new plant away from the mother plant and repot in well-drained soil.
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