Sweet Williams are one of those lovely old-fashioned flowers. Easy to grow traditional cottage garden plants that are famous for their spicy-scent.
The Auricula-eyed Group are irresistible. With low mounds of grass-like foliage, the vivid green stems are topped with dense, flat clusters of flowers with fringed petals in patchwork colours, dark tapestry rubies, fuchsia, scarlet, purple and white each with an attractive eye.

Growing to around 45cm (18in) tall they belong in the middle ground of the flower border. They are also a wonderful plant for containers, mass plantings and meadows.
These hardy biennials will grow in most soils and grow equally well in full sun or part shade. Insects and diseases do not frequent the plants. Everybody can grow them to perfection.
Sweet Williams make a long-lasting, fragrant cut flower, and are an excellent choice for dried flower arrangements. Best of all, they are intensely fragrant, with a delicious, rich perfume.

Dianthus barbatus "Auricula-eyed Mixed" has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Sowing: Sow seeds in late spring to early summer.
Dianthus barbatus is a biennial that is sown late spring to early summer and flowers in May to June the year after sowing. The flowers need exposure to cool conditions to initiate flower buds. Seeds can be sown either out-doors or for an earlier crop in unheated glasshouse or polythene tunnel and when large enough transplanted to where they are to flower. Seeds germinate in 2 to 3 weeks at around 12 to 15°C (54 to 59°F).

Sowing Direct:
Prepare the area by removing stones and weeds and rake to a fine tilth. Sow the seeds very thinly 6mm (¼in) in drills 30cm (12in) apart. Cover with only a fine sprinkling of soil. Water well and keep the soil damp until germination takes place. Thin out the seedlings to 15cm (6in) when large enough to handle. Replant the thinnings to other areas.

Sowing Early:
For an earlier crop seeds can either be sown into a seed bed or sown into modules or pots. Sow thinly and cover the seeds with only a fine sprinkling of soil or vermiculite. Water well and place modules or pots outdoors in a coldframe or a cold greenhouse.
In October or the following March they can be transplanted to where they are to flower. When transplanting to a bed or border, use a trowel to dig an individual hole for each plant, deep enough to submerge the root ball and keep the base of the stem at soil level. Position your plant and fill the hole back in. Gently firm down and water in. Leave a 15cm (6in) space between plants.

Cultivation:
Sweet Williams will grow in most soils, but prefer slightly alkaline, fairly rich, well draining soil. Poor drainage will kill the plants.
Mix in a general garden fertiliser before planting out. They prefer full sun in all but the hottest areas, where it should be given part shade. It does best in cooler weather, but given the right conditions it will survive a hot summer.
Over-watering Sweet Williams causes foliage to turn yellow. Dead-heading and a light feeding with a 10-10-10 fertiliser every eight weeks will increase blooms. Unless the weather is extremely dry, one thorough weekly watering (about one inch / 2.5cm) is sufficient. Weed around the plants as weeds will compete for nutrients and water. Apply a layer of mulch once the plants are established.

Plant Uses:
Cottage/Informal/Natural Garden, Flower Arranging, Flowers Borders and Beds.

Origin:
Dianthus barbatus (Sweet William) is a species of Dianthus native to the mountains of southern Europe from the Pyrenees east to the Carpathians and the Balkans, with a variety disjunct in northeastern China, Korea, and southeastern most Russia.
It is a biennial that belongs to the Dianthus family Caryophyllaceae, which also includes Carnations and Pinks. There are over 300 species of Dianthus, and hundreds more of hybrid varieties. The group includes annuals, biennials and perennials. Although cultivars of Sweet William are available in many colours, the wild plant has red flowers with a white base.

Nomenclature:
Dianthus was named by Greek botanist, Theophrastus. He named them Dianthus from the Greek dios, ‘divine’ and anthos, ‘flower’.
Barbatus is a word of Latin origin meaning "Bearded."
Many legends purport to explain how Sweet William acquired its common name, but none is verified. The English botanist John Gerard referred to Dianthus barbatus as "Sweete Williams" in his garden catalogue of 1596, It is often speculated that the flower was named after Gerard's contemporary, William Shakespeare, but this would seem unlikely. It is also said to be named after Saint William of York or after William the Conqueror.
Another common name for Dianthus is "Pink or Pinks. The precise origin is uncertain; perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked or jagged, from Middle English pinken (“to make figures”).
Another etymological derivation could be that the word is shortened from pink-eye, from the Dutch pinck oogen (“small or half-closed eyes”) (compare also French œillet), from Dutch pincken (“to shut the eyes, twinkle, wink”).

The Language of Flowers
On April 29, 2011 Kate Middleton, now officially known as Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, married her Prince (William) at Westminster Abbey in London.
The flowers used in royal wedding bouquets are steeped in tradition, history and meaning. Kate’s bouquet was by no means lavish or over the top, and paid homage to the traditional language of flowers and traditional British flowers. In tribute to her new husband, her royal wedding bouquet contained pure white Sweet Williams.
The traditional eight-tiered fruit cake, designed by Fiona Cairns, was decorated with cream and white icing. It featured 900 individually iced flowers, including the national flowers of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as myrtle, to symbolise love, and Sweet William.
In the Victorian language of flowers Sweet William represent Gallantry.