In the pink

The spicy fragrance of clove-scented pinks wafting through the air on a balmy summer evening must rate as one of the most sensual experiences of the gardening year, so it's hardly surprising that these sun-loving flowers have adorned Britain's gardens for centuries.

Their daintily pinked (or fringed) petals even spawned a new word to describe their colour and form - pink. This came into common usage in the middle of the 19th century, although Thomas Tusser, writing in 1573, did use the word "pinke'' as a colloquial name for this fimbriate flower.

Gardeners used to differentiate between carnations and pinks on the basis that carnations flowered for a much longer season under glass, but were not hardy enough to overwinter in the open ground.

Pinks, on the other hand, were tough survivors given good drainage, but they only flowered once in summer and that was it. In the early years of the 20th century, crosses between the two began to appear and Allwoods nursery, currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, raised a new race of long-flowering, scented, hardy garden pinks known as Dianthus x allwoodii. Some of them are still highly popular today - most notably 'Doris'.

Allwoods Brothers was started in 1910 by three Lincolnshire-born brothers with a farming background. They came to Sussex because land was too expensive in Lincolnshire: they gained a warmer climate with better light, although the local clay soil needed years of improvement. Montagu, Edward and George set the nursery up on a shoestring by renting land at Wivelsfield and buying the four-acre field opposite for £344.

Previously Edward had a "proper job'' in brewing and had amassed some capital. George, the quiet and diligent one, had worked in carnation production in the United States and knew the latest techniques and modern greenhouse design. Montagu, the public face of Allwoods, had worked his way up from pot washer to carnation manager in another nursery before declining a partnership. The brothers began by erecting a 50ft-span greenhouse, then the largest in the country, to produce American tree carnations for the cut-flower trade.

Just two years later they were exhibiting at the International Horticultural Exhibition held at The Royal Hospital, Chelsea - the forerunner of Chelsea Flower Show. They continued to exhibit at Chelsea until five years ago - racking up years of medal-winning displays broken only by two world wars. The three brothers served in the first and went over to producing vegetables in the second.

Montagu Allwood was a Chelsea Flower Show superstar in his day. He was known as much for his joie de vivre and cheeky sense of humour as for his floral displays. Mont (as he was called by friends) always managed to present the Queen with a small posy and buttonholes were sent for the male members of the Royal family - it was the perfect advert for his cut-flower postal service. Allwoods keeps up the royal connection by attending the Sandringham Flower Show.

Montagu was a born showman. When Chelsea's heavy canvas marquee blocked out too much light leading to a complete loss of fragrance on the stand he invented a carnation scent for the staff to wear.

It also proved very popular with the public. He advertised widely in the press, but perhaps his biggest coup was a deal to supply potted pinks to Woolworths stores in the Twenties and Thirties. This was long before the advent of garden centres and container-grown plants. Customers flocked to Woolworths to buy gardening sundries and plants; it introduced the pinks to a different audience and gave the brothers enough capital to acquire a new site at nearby Clayton. By 1930, 200 men were employed.

Sadly, when Montagu died in 1958, aged 78, the nursery went into receivership within two years. New buyers were found, but they were more interested in the land than the plants. A partnership formed by ex-Allwoods employees managed to keep the varieties going until the present owners, David and Emma James, took over in 1994. They both come from nursery-owning families and Emma has developed the mail order business selling 250 varieties.

Allwoods specialities

The most famous Allwoods pink is still 'Doris', a double pink variety with darker salmon-pink markings. Montagu originally rejected it for being too similar to another and he wanted to consign it to the compost heap. One of the foremen thought it worth saving so he carried on growing it on the nursery in some numbers.

Montagu fell in love at second sight saying "it was the best pink he had ever seen" and he named it after his wife when he launched it in 1945. Its tough constitution makes it a great survivor.

Most of the Allwoods pinks have female names because it encouraged more sales. Unfortunately, names tend to go out of fashion and 'Edna' (a rose-pink version of 'Doris') and 'Freda' (a semi-double mauve-pink with a paler centre) fail to attract many buyers now.

Emma explained that "we keep these varieties going so that they don't disappear". Conserving the collection was the main reason for taking over the nursery and the couple, who have a young family, have spent the past 16 years building it up, visiting other nurseries and gardens in the search for old varieties.

Ten highly recommended pinks

1 'Alice' (1930) A semi-double Allwoods pink with a raspberry-red eye.

2 'Susan' (1917) A pale, lilac-mauve Allwoods pink with a dark eye.

3 'Eileen' A highly scented single white Allwoods pink with a deep crimson centre. A variety that had been lost from the nursery for many years, it returned in a plastic carrier bag, brought in by a customer in 1994, and was identified as 'Eileen' by an ex-Allwoods' employee.

4 'Summerfield Debbie' (2003) Deep pink ground with darker pink stripes. Compact and highly scented. Bred at the nursery.

5 'Purple Jenny' (1994) A succession of purple blooms over a long season. Bred at the nursery and named after Jen Pearce, who started working for Allwoods after she left school and stayed until she retired in 2000.

6 'Linfield Kathy Booker' (2001) AGM A single white with pink edges and red middle. Very vigorous and strong with an excellent scent.

7 'Brympton Red' (pre-1960) A Day-Glo scarlet-red with brown markings - with wow factor and a heavenly scent. Named by Margery Fish after a garden at Brympton D'Evercy, but found at the workhouse in Beaminster, Dorset.

8 'Swan Lake' (pre-1957) The best white, producing fringed, double blooms with a strong clove scent. Flowers from June until autumn.

9 'Gran's Favourite' (1966) AGM Semi-double white prettily laced in rich-pink with a very long flowering season and superb clove scent.

10 'London Brocade' (pre-1961) An eye-catching, open semi-double with a white ground laced and zoned in purple. One of a series of 15 and the personal favourite of the breeder F W McQuown.

Five traditional varieties

1 'Sam Barlow' (1900s) Large, loosely formed white blooms flecked in maroon with an almost black eye. Very fragrant.

2 'Pink Mrs Sinkins' (1907) A lilac-pink version of the white 'Mrs Sinkins' with the same loosely formed flowers held in a split calyx. Compact plant with rich scent.

3 'Old Square Eyes' (age unknown) Large, single white flowers with a large peach-pink central zone and a narrow peach-pink margin on the petal edges. Highly scented.

4 'Murray Douglas' (age unknown) Large double blooms of loose petals in pink, flecked with a deeper rose-pink. Very strong clove scent.

5 'Inchmery' (1800) Clear, saucer-shaped, shell-pink, double flowers over a long period on a compact plant.

History

The pink was prized by the ancient Greeks who coined the word dianthus - literally God's or Zeus's flower. Carnation, a corruption of coronation, may describe the practice of crowning heroes.

Chaucer, writing in the mid-14th century, knew them as "girofle'', meaning clove. The name of gillyflower is still with us. The petals were used as a flavouring for wine and one old pink is actually called 'Sops in Wine'.

• Allwoods, London Road, Hassocks, West Sussex BN6 9NB (01273 844229; allwoods.net)

How to propagate pinks

A day before taking cuttings, make sure plants in dry conditions have been well watered.

Cuttings take easily if you choose a healthy, strong stem.

Remove the lower leaves and trim below the node (the leaf joint).

Place cuttings into a pot or tray of seed or cutting compost and keep them moist.

They will normally root in three weeks, especially in coir-based compost.

Once your cutting is rooted, nip out the main shoot to help produce a bushier plant. This is best done in the morning.

Pinks require good light levels and good drainage.Gardeners on clay can add coarse grit or make raised beds in order to accommodate them. The louder the grit squeaks when you squash it in your hand, the better it is.

Regular deadheading is vital for repeat flowering, but removing the spent flower is not enough. Always remove the whole flowering stem so that the plant bushes out from the base.

Water in the growing season and feed plants every two weeks with a phosphate-rich tomato feed.

Tidy the pinks in early September by cutting them back to form a compact mound.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2010, the Royal Hospital, London SW3, runs from May 25-29. To inquire about tickets, call 0844 338 7524 or go to rhs.org.uk.

Buy Chelsea Flower Show tickets from Telegraph tickets