The commonly cultivated two major groups of carnations:

(a) Outdoor: The outdoor carnations are hardy, early and have symmetrical flowers. Depending on the colour of flowers the outdoor carnations are grouped into the following groups:

(i) selfs – one colour only.

(ii) fancies – more than one colour, and

(iii)picotees – a ground of pale colour with an edge of a darker colour.

(b) Greenhouse carnation: The greenhouse carnations are mainly used for cut flowers and are grouped into two major classes:

i) Standard carnation – this type produces one large bloom on a long flower stalk: Miledy, Castellaro, Manon, Decio, Delphi, Nelson, Ivonne, Raggio di Sole, Pallas, Francesco etc are popular cultivars.

ii) Spray carnation – this produces many flowers of smaller size and is better adapted to warm climate: Natalia, Scarlette, Barbara, Lior, Medea, Bagatelle, Stephanie, Kortina, Princessa, Rony, Karina etc are popular cultivars.