Dianthus from Lake Baikal

[Maggi Young]

A listener sent a photo of this Dianthus, pictured near Lake Baikal, to the BBC Scotland radio gardening phone-in programme.
To my eyes, the photo as he emailed it in seemed more subdued a colour, with a hint of wine darkness to the flower. I think it looks a little too bright magenta in this copy.

There  was no information about the  size of the whole plant. Only that it had been photogrpahed near Lake Baikal. My impression from the original emailed photo was that the plant would be around 20 cms or slightly more high... certainly not a very neat sesile plant.

Any help available from you seasoned travellers out there as to an ID for the Dianthus ? ... which might lead to help for the questioner who would love to source a similar coloured dianthus in the UK.

[Roderick]

This looks very like Dianthus amurensis which I grew from commercial seed in 1992 and some later years.  Later supplies were more 'Blue' and even travel under the name of 'Siberian Blue'.  I did not find the plants permanent on chalk in Cambridge, and even shorter lived in Norfolk on acid sand.  They were not spectacular enough to cosset.  They were loose and rather lank at 30 cm.

Roderick

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Roderick.  I am aware that the 'Amur Pink' is more often of a blue tone, as you suggest you have seen.
Given that this plant seemsd to me to be more red in tone, what do folks think about Dianthus versicolor as a possibility?

[Lori S.]

What I've grown as Dianthus amurensis, a fall-bloomer, has distinct zonation through the center of the petals:


(I've not really noticed any blue tone in those claimed to be "blue", e.g. 'Siberian Blue', etc..  Looks like mauve-lavender at best to me... ?)

Edit: Yes, does look like D. versicolor, as you suggest, Maggi.

[Maggi Young]

Funny how we perceive colours... I see a lot of blue in your  D.amurensis, Lori.

Here's a picture of Dianthus cf versicolor Fisch. ex Link  under fair use terms : 

Photo by: M. Schnittler 03.08.2008
University of Greifswald, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Institute of Geography and Geology, Computer Centre, 2010- (continuously updated). FloraGREIF - Virtual Flora of Mongolia (http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/floragreif/). Computer Centre of University of Greifswald, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany

[Lori S.]

Funny how we perceive colours... I see a lot of blue in your  D.amurensis, Lori.

Maybe I need to finally break down and buy those incredibly expensive RHS colour charts!    


(Edit:  Maybe I should clarify... I do see it as pink overlain with blue but I guess it's calling it 'Blue something or other' in the cultivar name that rankles a bit; I expect such plants should be unequivocally BLUE, not wishy-washy bluish-pink!      Yeah, it's just me, I know.   

[Maggi Young]

Funny how we perceive colours... I see a lot of blue in your  D.amurensis, Lori.

Maybe I need to finally break down and buy those incredibly expensive RHS colour charts!    

I've got a old set..... David N. got them for me from a second hand book shop.... but I hardly use them... they are not exactly user friendly.


Tomorrow I'll see in daylight (supposing we get any!) what those charts show me 

[Lesley Cox]

Wish I could get some cutting material to the original UK questioner. Failing that, he/she could try crossing Dianthus alpinus 'Joan's Blood' with D. deltoides 'Steriker' for a rather nice plant, in stature halfway between the two, perennial and of the richest most harsh magenta imaginable, with dark reddish foliage.

I did have a picture of it somewhere a few months ago but the screen colour wasn't half so intense as in the plant itself.

[Maggi Young]

I still haven't got around to checking the colour charts. 

That's a most useful suggestion, Lesley,thanks.  I'll pass that to the questioner.