Carnation ( Dianthus caryophyllus ) , also live as the garlic clove pink or the pink , is a species of flowering plant life in the family Caryophyllaceae , native to the Mediterranean part . The carnation is a herbaceous perennial plant originate up to 80 cm marvelous . It is aboriginal to the Mediterranean region , but its accurate natural range is uncertain due to all-inclusive cultivation over the last 2,000 yr . They ’re among the world ’s oldest cultivated prime .
The original natural heyday semblance is bright pinkish - purple , but cultivar of other colour , including crimson , pinkish , yellow , livid , and greenish have been grow . While sometimes dyed Amytal for cut bouquets , there are no known carnation cultivars that produce a on-key blue flower . There also are bi - colour varieties with petal edges of a different color .
harmonize to the University of Vermont , clove pink flowers were used in garlands by the ancient Greeks and Romans . The botanic name Dianthus translates as “ flower of the gods . ” carnation were grow in Europe for centuries both for ornamentation and as a season agent for beer , wine-colored and John Barleycorn . The bloom are edible . The first Dianthus caryophyllus in the U.S. follow in a cargo from France to Long Island , New York , in 1852 .
In 1907 Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia take the pink carnation as the symbolisation for Mother ’s Day . In Europe the clove pink was formerly used as a treatment for fevers . It was also used to spice wine and ale during Elizabethan times , as a substitute for the more expensive Eugenia aromaticum ( Syzygium aromaticum ) .
gillyflower usually feature beautiful colors , delicate laciniate flower petal , and enthrall fragrance . The fragrance of carnations is often account as blue , garlic clove - like , or reminiscent of a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg , this even explain why it was give the nickname “ Eugenia aromaticum pink ” . Carnations are the 2d most popular commercially grown efflorescence in the world , after rose . They are normally used in the florist trade because of the many people of colour and because they are among the longer - lived flowers when cut .
gillyflower are the official state flower of Ohio and the national bloom of Spain and Slovenia . The colors of Dianthus caryophyllus bloom have specific substance . Pink flowering works press out motherly love and are a staple in Mother ’s 24-hour interval fragrance . loose red expresses admiration while black red symbolizes deep making love . White blossoms express idolatry and wishes for skilful lot while yellow expresses disappointment and purple show whimsey .
Many gillyflower varieties are grown commercially in Colorado , southern California , Israel , Kenya and Spain . They can be raise as an one-year or repeated garden flower throughout the continental U.S. Most clove pink varieties are circularise from seeds or from cut ingest from the suckers at the root of the plant , from side shoot or from the main stem turn before flower bud show .
carnation thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 9 . In ecumenical , carnations prefer daytime temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit . In colder mood , carnations may be grown as annual or in flowerpots and taken indoors when winter come .
