Ground cover of some kind: And I used to know the name of this one....major senior moment! Can you tell, even though the flowers haven't bloomed yet? Also it completely surprised me coming back from a container that was planted last season, I thought with just perennials to add some color to the porch!
OH! Well, that's not what I was thinking of at all! But I think you might be right! They sure do look like carnations, even though I don't think that's what I planted last year. Hmmm...well, I'll wait and see when they bloom, and that will tell us definitively! I'll update the thread when there are flowers.
They may be Dianthus then Ronni if you don't remember planting carnations. My daughter used to call Dianthus baby carnations when she was little.
Both Carnation and the plant commonly called Dianthus are in the same Genus.....Dianthus. Carnation is Dianthus caryophyllus (Clove Pink, Carnation, Scarlet Carnation) But the plant commonly called Dianthus includes many different species and some are simply cultivars of the Genus. Check out the info in our data base to see how many other species there are .. https://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/search.php?q=dianthus
Contrary to what @Hummingbird says I think the first one is Strawberry Begonia Saxifraga stolonifera. Up north we keep it in pots as houseplants. Lucky you to be able to row it outside all year long.
I agree with @waretrop re: first or top plant. I'd call it Strawberry begonia and keep it inside the house as a houseplant. It'll send out baby runners.
Really? So I can pot some of this up and use it as a houseplant?? That's very cool. It's currently planted in a kinda dilapidated raised garden bed running along the back side of his porch. He's going to remodel the porch this summer and that raised bed is going to go. Good to know I can salvage a bit of that plant. Question: If I want to re-plan/start that Strawberry Begonia somewhere else in the yard, it's a shade plant, right? So it needs to be a ground cover where it's shaded?
If you pot some up cram it in the pot....leave no space.. then it will make runners sooner. They are fun as they hang out of the pot. Try it we all do up north...
Is there a bloom open on the Dianthus yet? It could be this kind, or another: https://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/9002770
Here you go! It WAS dianthus! I am so confused though, I thought dianthus for this zone (Nashville tn Zone 7) was an annual. Hmm..clearly I was wrong because this dianthus came back from last year.
