Sweet William

Ornamental Features:

Sweet William features beautiful fragrant crimson flat-top frilly flowers at the ends of the stems from late spring to mid summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It's pointy leaves remain emerald green in colour throughout the season. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.

Landscape Attributes:

Sweet William is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This perennial will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Sweet William is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Border Edging
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Container Planting

Plant Characteristics:

Sweet William will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and tends to be biennial, meaning that it puts on vegetative growth the first year, flowers the second, and then dies. However, this species tends to self-seed and will thereby endure for years in the garden if allowed.

This perennial should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This plant can be propagated by division.

This species is not originally from North America.