Sweet William Help Please

I try to grow enough flowers to have at least a couple of vases in the front room, dining room, and one in the kitchen. When sweet peas are are in season they are in additional vases everywhere.

We also give flowers to family, friends, neighbours, those who've done us favours, etc., and charity sales, plus as thank yous to teachers, guide leaders, etc., including several friends who put them on their spouses/parents' graves.

 

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Soon after I started gardening I grew lots of Sweet Williams every year for a few years!

The theory of growing them successfully is, sow April or early May one year, then transplant into final position that autumn, flower the next and then dump them after flowering and start all over again, it is an on going process!


I won't say what a section in Scotland calls them!

.cheers!

 

Nor will I, but the water in the vase does stink after several days.

 

I also thought Sweet William was named after the Duke of Cumberland , who brutaly suppressed the Scotish Jacobites in the 1700's , hence the name Stinking Billy north of the border. But not according to Wikipedia....

Many legends purport to explain how Sweet William acquired its English common name, but none is verified. "Sweet William" is often said to honour the 18th century Prince William, Duke of Cumberland ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"). As a result of Cumberland's victory at the Battle of Culloden and his generally brutal treatment of the king's enemies, it is also claimed that the Scots sometimes call the flower "Stinking Billy".[6][7][8] Though this makes a nice story, it is entirely untrue. The English botanist John Gerard referred to Dianthus barbatus as "Sweete Williams" in his garden catalogue of 1596, 150 years before Culloden.[9] Phillips speculated that the flower was named after Gerard's contemporary, William Shakespeare.[10] It is also said to be named after Saint William of York or after William the Conqueror. Another etymological derivation is that william is a corruption of the French oillet, meaning "little eye". Sweet William is a favourite name for lovelorn young men in English folkloric ballads, e.g., "Fair Margaret and Sweet William."

 

Thanks Peter , I will try and stop them going to seed and see what happens :thumb: All this biennial Vs perennial Vs monocarpic is getting a bit too complicated for my 1950's series brain :D