Chabaud Giants La France is a summertime stunner that brings old-world elegance to modern gardens. This heirloom carnation grows to a compact 24 inches tall with sturdy stems perfect for cutting, flowering reliably from June through August in zones 7 and warmer. From seed to first bloom takes 112-140 days, rewarding patient gardeners with generations-old genetics and the kind of spiced fragrance that made carnations beloved in Victorian gardens.
6
Full Sun
Moderate
7-7
24in H x 12in W
—
High
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These carnations inherit the Chabaud legacy, a French breeding line prized for giant flowers on strong stems and remarkable fragrance. Deer leave them untouched, they shrug off drought once established, and they attract pollinators throughout the summer months. The low-nitrogen fertilizer requirement keeps them lean and floriferous rather than rank and leafy, a counterintuitive but proven trait of the best cutting carnations.
Chabaud Giants La France carnations exist for the vase and the garden display. Their 24-inch stems cut cleanly for arrangements, and their spiced fragrance fills a room in a way few flowers can. In the garden, they provide steady summer color in borders, containers, and cutting beds from June straight through the heat of August.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Sow indoors 8-10 weeks before your last frost date, keeping seeds at 65-70°F until they germinate (typically within 7-14 days), then drop the temperature to 50-55°F. This cool period after germination hardens seedlings and promotes sturdier growth.
Transplant seedlings outdoors at the last frost date when soil has warmed. Harden off plants gradually by exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7-10 days.
In zone 7 and colder areas, direct sow at the last frost date for some fall flowers and potential overwintering. In warm winter zones (8-9), sow in late summer for flowers the following year.
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“The Chabaud family of carnations represents one of horticulture's great success stories of patient selection. French breeders in the 19th century took the spice pink (Dianthus caryophyllus) and refined it through decades of careful crossing and selection, creating strains known for larger flowers, longer stems, and superior vase life. The Chabaud Giants line emerged as the pinnacle of this work, valued by both home gardeners and commercial florists for combining vigor with the fragrance and form that made carnations indispensable to cut-flower arrangements across Europe and America.”