Phlox flower (or Sweet William) is a colourful plant, and it will make your garden very beautiful and picturesque. These plants come in a wide range of colours, so you can choose the best ones which will satisfy your taste and match perfectly with the other plants in your garden.
Yes, you can opt for white, yellow, scarlet, purple and red Phlox flower, or you can plant all of them, creating a beautiful artistic combination of colours in your garden.
Garden Phlox plants prefer locations with full sun, but they will also tolerate the places with partial shade. Do not forget that partial shading will increase the chances of getting fungal diseases and mildew troubles, so it is better to get an effective fungicide in advance.
If you do not have a proper place in your garden where Phlox plants would receive full sun, try to opt for an alternative where at least morning sun is available.
The most appropriate soil conditions for these plants are to plant them in an average, moderately fertilized soil.
They will grow in sandy soil as well, provided you do not forget to water the plants regularly. Heavy clay soils are not favoured by these Phlox as they tend to resent winter wetness.
All varieties of garden, Phlox flower can be easily propagated by carefully performing tip cutting or by division. It is best to divide these plants in the beginning of spring or early autumn.
This perennial plant is always among the gardener's favourites not only thanks to the beauty of its flowers, but also because of the long blooming period, though they typically give only one flush of flowers a year. They start blooming in July and keep displaying their elegant and colourful flowers all through August. Then Phlox plants start gradually fading away.
After blooming, “dead head” the plants: cut off the faded flowers and for better results take several upper leaves as well. It will prevent the plant from rotting and decrease the chances of possible diseases.
The flowers of this plant look perfect in vases, thy will decorate your house and fill the rooms with slight pleasant fragrance.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that phlox flower has more than a hundred varieties, including even creeping Phlox. Here are several Phlox plants, the most popular and beautiful ones.
'Miss' varieties, like ' Miss Kelly', 'Miss Pepper' and 'Miss Elie' make excellent blooming plants. And this is not the only attraction of them – they are also known for their mildew resistance. It is recommended to go for these varieties if you do not have a spare place in your garden where the plants would get full sun light. The plants from 'Miss' series will do reasonably well in partial shade as well.
'Nora Leigh' is popular because it was one of the first Phlox plants cultivated in a garden, but it does not demonstrate that great a bloom. If you want some better flowering Phlox in your garden, it is highly recommended to choose 'Harlequin' or 'David'. 'David' once even won a title of perennial flowering plant of the year. It is a mildew-resistant variety with elegant and attractive white bloom.
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Phlox flower will add much colour to your garden such as purple, red, scarlet, yellow and white, all in many shades. One of the better known is "Sweet William".
Phlox are grown from seed, are annual and some are perennial. Start indoors for 6 to 8 weeks prior to the last frost, and then transplant them in your garden. Or you can sow them directly into your garden after the last frost.
They make great cut flowers by the way.
Author: Caroline Ord-Hume.
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