The alpine Dianthus are amongst the staples of the rock garden, providing lots of reliable colour after the first flush of spring flowers has passed. They form neat cushions of thin, pointed leaves, blue-grey in the majority of species, and have short stems, each with a few, wide-open, five-petalled flowers, mostly in the white-pink-red colour range. With over 100 European species, identification is often tricky.

Dianthus microlepis is an excellent plant for a trough or raised bet, originating from Bulgaria. It makes a low cushion of short, very narrow leaves, usually silvery grey but sometimes more green. The cushion can be covered with short-stemmed flowers, rich pink or with a bit of purple in them.