Pretty in pinks

Pinks are low-maintenance plants, requiring only deadheading after their first flush of bloom to encourage reblooming. I have been growing them for more than 30 years and have never encountered disease or insect problems; just keep the following in mind:

• Where summers are very hot and humid, give plants good air circulation by thinning overgrown clumps that could shelter insects.
• Never mulch pinks; this encourages moisture around the root crown and leads to untimely death.
• Protect plants over the winter with a covering of evergreen boughs.
• Plant in well-drained soil in open, sunny conditions

• Where summers are very hot and humid, give plants good air circulation by thinning overgrown clumps that could shelter insects.
• Never mulch pinks; this encourages moisture around the root crown and leads to untimely death.
• Protect plants over the winter with a covering of evergreen boughs.
• Plant in well-drained soil in open, sunny conditions

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