BTW ... 4 o'clock is annual for me in z5 MI ...

it might be perennial for you ...

ken

ps: she has a concurrent post in the annual forum ...

This must be some kind of annual dianthus? The perennials are very attractive in or out of bloom and offer beautiful evergreen foliage, often low thick mounds in various degrees of blueish foliage. I would not want to hide it. You might look into the perennial varieties if this is the case.

I have hardy geranium 'Biokovo' growing in part sun that forms a tidy, well-behaved mound each season at the edge of a concrete walkway where I also grow dianthus. It stays healthy-looking right up until a hard frost & might do for your needs of hiding the dianthus.

Altho' it can be aggressive, Carex 'Ice Dance' (variegated Japanese sedge) is another low-maintenance strong performer. It doesn't bloom however but forms a rather attractive mound of foliage.

I, too, was surprised to read this. I've never known dianthus to die back in the summer. The spent flowers look pretty ratty but they are easy to snip off. The blue foliage is very attractive without any flowers and I wouldn't dream of trying to hide it.

One of the prettiest for foliage is 'Cheddar Pink'. I like the foliage even better than the flowers on this one and I take rooted starts from the one I got years ago and plant it anywhere I want that light blue foliage. It even does well in almost full shade as long as the drainage is good. Its one of my favorite perennials.

do you have a pic of it... ???

of course.. the other option.. is to move this plant somewhere else ...

and replace it ..

dont get stuck inside of a box.. explore all your options ....

ken

I agree that you might want to check out other Dianthus varieties. All the half dozen varieties that I've grown have had lovely blue-green foliage that are decorative all year, even in the winter (unless the voles eat it.) My Dianthus 'Greystone' is in the lower left of this photo in October of this year, but this is how it looks all the time except when it is in bloom.

I can't think of any perennials that come up late enough so that they wouldn't hide the dianthus when it's blooming, but then emerge and become thick enough to hide the dying foliage in midsummer. If I had this type of perennial, I would either move it to a less prominent spot, replace it, or use an annual, ornament, or potted plant to hide it.

No, it is a perennial. The flower part and the foliage become dried and brown after the bloom finishes.

I don't know the name of this plant, I got the seeds in trade several years ago. The bloom is lilac and beautiful. Kinda luminescent. No way I'm going to get rid of it.

hmm.. odd that all your dianthus have nice foliage...

anyway thanks for the feed-back.

(Yes, I cross-posted to annual forum, bec. I don't have a preference for annual or perennial for this purpose. Hope I didn't violate some cardinal rule. lol.)

Have you tried cutting the pinks back when they brown out? Or strippig off the leaves by running your fingers gently down (not up) the stems while holding the top end with your other hand? Have a variety of pinks here in Zone 7a central Virginia, and a few respond to either treatment when they go brown like that in some years when the weather gets very hot. I contine to water them along with their neighbors as needed, and they've always regrown & often rebloomed. Bought a Kahori dianthus this year & left it in its pot to learn its nature before planting, It browned over entirely after its first bloom. Left it alone, kept it watered & it regrew from the roots right through the dead tuft on top that I gently lifted right off when the regrowth was noticed. Sometimes violas here do the same. I just cut them down to the soil & they regrow & rebloom when the weather cools as long as the roots are consistently watered. Worth a try.