How nice!!
Up here, carnations are basically annuals.
I hope you find the following info helpful, Kirby.
How to Propagate Carnations
SEEDS - If you start from seeds, plant them indoors or in a greenhouse just as the forest tree leaves are beginning to appear in your areas. Here, our first Alder leaves emerge in mid-March, so that is when I would sow carnation seeds here. Use a well-drained mix such as cacti and succulent potting soil or Sunshine #1 with some sand added. The seed germinates in 2 to 3 weeks at 65 to 75 degrees. From seeds, plants will bloom in 6 to 9 months if your climate is mild, but in most areas they will not bloom until the following summer.
CUTTINGS - You can take a cutting off any carnation, even after it has bloomed. In fact, the flower stem is often the only place where a carnation will form a stalk long enough to take a cutting from. It is best to take carnation cuttings in early Fall. They will root at the swollen node hidden beneath each leaf. Cut at an angle just below a node, and trim off the top, leaving 1 node for roots at the bottom and one at the top for the growth to come out of. Remember which side is up. Dab the bottom in #1 rooting powder. Then stick into well-drained soil in pots or in a cutting or seedling tray.
LAYERING - This is the easiest way to propagate carnations and they will actually do this themselves once mature. Observing a mature clump of carnations, seek out sturdy stems pointing away from the centre of the clump. If you look at the bottoms of these stems they will often be rooted, and if they are not yet, you can promote rooting by bending them down to touch the soil. Keep them pinned down with a rock, a stick, or whatever else. Cut off any flowers that are growing on that particular stem. Within a few weeks you will see your new plant rooting. Once the roots seem 4 to 5 inches long, cut this new plant away from the mother plant and repot in well-drained soil.
DIVISION - For all intents and purposes, this is the same as the above. Choose plants that have layered themselves off the mother plant and cut them away. Repot or replant in a suitable spot. It is not good practice to divide the heart of an old carnation plant. The best way to propagate is through layered side-plants as described above.
~Carnations in Tarnation~
