Grandmother's Sweet Williams

Here is what my Wild Sweet Williams in the woods look like. They are taller than the ones in my garden. They are not all opened up yet, but I found this one the other day. Here are the Sweet Williams from the front garden. Lower to the ground and such pretty colors. You never know, from year to year, what color will be prominent.

Do you have memories of your Grandmother's garden? The two flowers that I remember from my Grandma's garden are Sweet Williams and Iris. She didn't have a huge garden...just beds bordering the house. The yard was not very big. I remember Sweet Williams because of their beautiful colors. All shades of pink and red. When I married Joe, he said that his favorite in the garden was Sweet William too. He also loves Marigolds. There was a small patch of these flowers in the front garden. As the years have gone by....slowly my other flowers crowded out the Sweet Williams. Last year I planted a new patch of them. This year they are blooming. If I leave them alone...they will self seed. I have to remember to keep some of my garden bullies away from this cottage garden sweet flower, so they come back again and again. I planted lots of wildflower seeds in the woods....now we have Wild Sweet Williams back there. It is a spot of bright color in the shady woods.

Sweet-William (Dianthus barbatum) is a short-lived perennial or biennial that was introduced from Europe in the late 18th century. It is a member of the Pink family, and characterized by a compact mound of clustered Phlox-like single or double flowers with toothed or fringed petals. Old varieties of Sweet-William were known for their fragrance, but only a few of this type are available today. A wildflower known as Wild Sweet William is actually from the Phlox genus, Phlox maculatum.

Balisha