Some friends and I drove out of town yesterday to visit two farm-sized gardens. I took about a thousand photos, and yet of all of the images I could have picked to show today, I chose this one of the tiniest dianthus I have ever seen in my life. I might be on a bit of a dianthus kick. I did buy three different types this spring.

I spotted the single flower, smaller than half an inch, hidden deep among a field of mid-sized grasses and common field plants. How I noticed it — a needle in a giant haystack — is beyond me. My trusty copy of National Audobon Society’s “Field Guide to Wildflowers, Eastern Region” indicates that this plant, Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria) is not a native to North American but was brought over from Europe. The common name is a reference to Deptford, England, where it was once found in abundance.