I enjoy the spring garden. Everything is shiny and green after the dull months of winter, but beyond that, everything is neat and tidy and in its place, all the little plants just getting started. By mid-August, all that’s past. Now the baby plants are like so many gloriously exuberant teenagers, wild and rambling and definitely no longer under their gardener-mother’s thumb. In the tumble of plants, phlox makes a brilliant statement.
Several of my most vibrant phlox plants predate my arrival as head gardener, and have been keeping company with the ‘Dart’s Dash’ rugosa roses for years. I especially like this standout pink.
This bright purple is very eye-catching as well. It looks good with the yellow spikes of verbascum nigrum.
Its neighbour is the much more sedately coloured Sherbet Cocktail (Phlox paniculata ‘Sherbet Cocktail’).
Pictured above is Norah Leigh (Phlox paniculata ‘Norah Leigh’), which is actually better known for its variegated leaves than its pink and white flowers.
And this is Bright Eyes (Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’), blooming with the daylily ‘Dallas Star’, just ending its season, and Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium ‘Phantom’), just coming into bloom.
Finally, here is an unknown mauve phlox, blooming with purple liatris (Liatris spicata) and Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’).
Phlox is prone to powdery mildew, which disfigures the leaves with ugly white blotches. I never worry about such trivia. The surrounding plants mostly hide the blotchy leaves, and the plants mostly survive from year to year. It all works out.
That Bright Eyes phlox is wonderful. I really need to add some more phlox to my garden. It certainly is popular with the butterflies. You have a beautiful collection!
Like Natalie, looking at your post I think I should add some more phlox to my garden! The bright purple looks great with the paler one.
I also like your description of going from neat and tidy to the exuberance of late August. Here the weeds are also exuberant, especially after having been away on two trips. The knowledge that some friends are to come to see the garden at the end of the week, should help me get going with the weeding!
Thank you Natalie, I like Bright Eyes too, even just for the name!
Alain, one nice thing about the August exuberance, it disguises the weeds! Having visitors coming is always good motivation for some tidying up.
D really liked the Norah Leigh phlox when we were there last; he commented on it and was surprised when I told him it was phlox, because we’d only had plain varieties at the old house. I do miss the phlox; there was quite a bit of it there, and it’s a great plant for sphinx moths – both the familiar diurnal ones, but also nocturnal ones, if you go out at dusk or after dark with a flashlight.
Oh, I’ll have to give a flashlight outing a try, Seab. Thanks for the tip.
You’re right about the garden in August – wild and rambling, plants blooming everywhere in the jungle. Beautiful phlox pix.
It comes in colours??? The mildew issue (too much rain here) has made me (and maybe many more Saint Johners) ignore all but the white davidii variety. When E.g. pointed at some pink “sweet williams” the other day, I hesitated before replying that, no, those were phlox. We were both surprised.
Furry, thanks. It’s a wild time in the garden, for sure.
Dandy, that bad eh? Some of the newer varieties are supposed to be better. You could put them to the test. Baby Face, Danielle, Jade, Junior Dream, Little Boy are among the varieties reported to be mildew resistant but I haven’t tried any of them myself.