Carolina Pinks

Silene caroliniana

Carolina Pinks stops you in your tracks in late spring. dense, low mounds of sticky, gray-green foliage carrying clusters of bright, deep pink flowers with notched petals that catch the light and seem to glow in afternoon sun. The flowers are intensely colored for a small plant, saturated pink-cerise that holds for several weeks in April and May. The entire plant, including stems and leaves, is covered in fine sticky hairs that trap small insects. an adaptation that keeps crawling pests from stealing nectar at the base of the flower tubes. This is a plant for rocky outcrops, dry sandy banks, and thin, fast-draining soils where the drainage is impeccable. It does not tolerate clay, heavy soil, or wet conditions. Get the drainage right and Carolina Pinks is a long-lived, showy spring perennial that earns pride of place at the front of a rock garden or naturalistic border edge. Hummingbirds and long-tongued native bees visit the flowers reliably during the spring bloom window.