Sweet William
Dianthus barbatus
—
Not native
Not native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Height
- 1–2 feet
- Spread
- 6 inches–1 foot
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual, biennial or perennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
County records are not available.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Dianthus
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Feltia repletaReplete Dart
- Hadena capsularisCapsule Moth
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
Show all 15
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimGrowing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–9b
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Pink, purple, red, variegated or white
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Pink, purple, red, variegated or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Annual, biennial or perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6 inches–1 foot” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications