Fashionably Early Flamingo Phlox

Sounding like a character from the Mad Hatter’s Party, the Fashionably Early Flamingo Phlox will certainly bring lots of character to your early summer garden. Blooming 2 or 3 weeks before the traditional types of garden phlox, it has large heads of elegant lavender pink flowers. The leaves are glossy and dark green, narrower than on the older types, and, most importantly, they stay free of that nasty white powdery mildew that always used to spoil our phlox plants. An easy perennial to grow, needing no staking and just some watering to thrive. Growing to almost 3 feet tall, and making a slowly spreading cluster rather than a tight clump, it is perfect for planting in the middle part of a traditional perennial border, but also great in beds of smaller shrubs, or in front of clipped evergreens around your house. Use it too in meadow gardens and more naturalistic plantings, among grasses an other summer-flowering plants. Being bred from native phlox species, it also fits into wild areas, bringing unsuspected color to natural landscapes.

• Bold heads of vibrant lavender-pink flowers with a darker center
• Blooms from early summer on, and some flowers return in fall
• Leaves stay clean and green, thanks to high mildew resistance
• Attracts butterflies and also hummingbirds
• A great color-boost for your summer garden

Choose a spot in full sun to plant your Fashionably Early Flamingo Phlox, although in hot zones a little afternoon shade can be valuable. For good growth it needs a moist but well-drained soil, so avoid spots that are too dry or too wet. Add plenty of rich compost to the soil when planting. Use more compost as mulch, and water as needed, especially before and during the flowering season, to maintain a moist soil environment. Cut back stems to an inch or so in late fall, removing fallen leaves at the same time. Cover the whole plant with an inch or so of more compost – new stems will push through it next spring.