Phlox

Phlox paniculata, garden phlox, is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family (Polemoniaceae). It is native to parts of the eastern and central United States. It is extensively cultivated in temperate regions as an ornamental plant. In its natural range, it grows along stream banks and in moist wooded areas.

Garden phlox is an erect herbaceous perennial growing to 120 cm tall by 100 cm wide. The flowers are 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter and are borne in summer through fall. They are grouped in panicles, hence the specific epithet paniculata. Typical flower colors in wild populations are pink or purple, rarely white.

Garden phlox is the tallest of the commonly grown species; the native species may grow even taller in ideal growing conditions. Tall phlox, as it is also called, is native from New York to Iowa south to Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. It blooms from July to September.

The plant has been used medicinally, with the leaf extract serving as a laxative and to treat boils.

Cultivation and garden use

Phlox paniculata is grown largely for its showy fragrant flowers in high summer. It requires a sheltered spot with full sun or partial shade, in fertile moist soil. Plants may be propagated by division or root cuttings in autumn, or by basal cuttings in spring. They make excellent cut flowers.

The genus Phlox

Phlox is a genus of 68 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae, found mostly in North America, with one species in Siberia. Flowers of the genus may be pale blue, violet, pink, bright red or white, and many are fragrant. The flowers of garden phlox are held in large terminal clusters 4 to 8 inches wide, and a few cultivars are orange. Phlox attract butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and small mammals.

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