Done at the right time, propagating pinks is easy

flowersYou can't go wrong with pinks in a small garden (Image: Getty Images)

They are totally at home in containers, rock gardens, raised beds and even traditional hotspots at the foot of south-facing walls. Pinks team up well with other small, slow-growing sunlovers such as silver feathery Artemesia schmidtiana Nana, thrift, houseleeks and ornamental thymes, besides fellow chalk-lovers such as gypsophila. There are hundreds to choose from, many with wonderful scent. Modern pinks, such as the famous salmon-pink Doris, flower prolifically all summer from June to September. Then there are the stocky rockery pinks and their numerous hybrids such as Little Jock, all with a long season.

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The collectors' favourites are old-fashioned pinks, such as Fenbow's Nutmeg Clove, which are known for their rich, spicy scents, though as a slight drawback most of this group have a short flowering season, around six weeks long in June and July.

Whichever type you opt for, the family have one thing in common

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