Phlox
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| Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Phlox (Greek for flame, once applied to species of Lychnis). Polemoniaceae. Showy and popular flower-garden herbs, perennial and annual. Erect or diffuse, tall or low, mostly perennial, glabrous, pubescent or hairy, a few of them woody at base but mainly herbaceous throughout: lvs. mostly opposite or sometimes the upper ones alternate, entire: fls. in bright colors, blue, red, blue-red, purple, white, in terminal cymes or thyrse; calyx narrow-tubular or sometimes nearly campanulate, 5-ribbed and 5-cleft, the lobes sharp-pointed; corolla convolute in bud, salverform, with a very slender tube and a flat-spreading 5-lobed limb, the lobes obovate or broader and sometimes notched; stamens 5, usually unequal in length or in point of attachment, usually included; ovary 3-celled, oblong or ovoid, the style slender: caps. 3-valved, the seeds 1 or few in each cell, usually 1.—Species 48 as defined by Brand in Engler's Das Pflanzenreich, hft. 27 (IV. 250), 1907, one of which is Siberian and the others N.American, in woods and thickets and on prairies and plains, some of them alpine and arctic. From a horticultural point of view, the phloxes may be thrown into five groups: (1) the annual ph1oxes, P. Drummondii; (2) the highly developed summer perennial tall phloxes of nurseries and gardens, P.Paniculata and P. maculata; (3) the moss pinks, P. subulata and its variants, useful as carpeters; (4) those useful in alpine and rock-gardening, although little employed for the purpose in America, represented by P. multi-fora and the cespitose Rocky Mountains set which seems not to be in the lists; (5) the early blooming perennial woods and plains species not yet much domesticated but often naturalized in grounds, as P. pilosa, P. divaricata, and others. As, a group, phloxes are amongst the most satisfactory of garden plants. Their neat habit, bright-colored flowers, profuseness of bloom, and ease of culture make them favorites everywhere. Most of the domesticated kinds are summer bloomers, but P. subulata is spring-flowering. The annual phloxes, derivatives of Phlox Drummondii, of Texas, have risen to first place as garden annuals. This species has been much modified by domestication, so that the named garden varieties are numbered by dozens. These garden forms differ in stature, color, size and shape of flower. Some are semi-double. An effort has been made to produce a yellow flower, but apparently a true yellow has not yet been secured. The colors run to the cyanic series, in many interesting variations. Phlox Drummondii is of the easiest culture. This fact, together with the profusion and long season of its bloom, is an important reason for its popularity. It blooms all summer and until frost if the stock and conditions are good. It needs a warm sunny place. It will grow even in poor soil, but in order to develop to its highest perfection it must have good soil and the individual plants must be given room (say 1 foot apart each way). Seeds are usually sown in the open as soon as the weather is settled; sometimes they are sown indoors, but the plants bloom so young that this is rarely practised. If the ground is poor and dry, the plants usually cease blooming by midsummer, but if plant-food and moisture are abundant they may be expected to continue their bloom until late autumn. To attain this result most perfectly, the old flower-cluster should be removed; the plant is an end- bloomer, and when the terminal flower-cluster has matured the other shoots continue the growth and thereby provide a succession of bloom. This phlox has now varied so much under domestication that packets of mixed seed are likely to give tall and dwarf, large-flowered and small-flowered forms, with very unsatisfactory results. If mixed colors are desired, pains should be taken to secure seed that will produce plants of similar height and season. Some of the cheap seed may produce very disappointing plants even under the best conditions. The summer perennial ploxes of gardens are of several races. They are probably the issue of P. paniculata and P. maculata, although their origin and characteristics need to be worked over. This group of plants is amongst the most showy of garden herbs. The terminal panicles have become 1 foot long in some forms, and as densely filled as a hydrangea. They are specially desirable when color display is sought in connection with formal or semi-formal designs, as on terraces and by balustrades. The colors are most frequent in reds, but there are many purple, white, salmon, and parti-colored varieties. The summer perennial phlox should have a rich and rather moist soil if it is to be grown to perfection. It should never suffer for moisture or food. Let each clump have a space, when fully developed, of 2 to 3 feet across. The plants as purchased from nurseries usually do not come into full floriferous- ness until their third year. For the highest satisfaction in blooms, the plants should be relatively young or at least often renewed by dividing the clump. The stool gradually enlarges outward. From the young vigorous shoots on the outside of the clump the new plants should be reared, if one desires to propagate the variety to any extent. Old stools should be taken up every year or two, and divided and transplanted. This work is performed in the fall, after the growth has ceased. By this process, the plants do not become weak and root- bound. Inferior and vigorous seedlings are often allowed to grow about the old plant, causing the named varieties to "run out." The modern varieties should not remain undisturbed for more than three or four years. One of the requisites is to secure in the first place stock that is strong and healthy. Phloxes usually bloom in early summer and midsummer, but if the tips of the shoots are pinched out once or twice in early summer, the bloom may be delayed until late summer or autumn. Named varieties are propagated by side shoots and by cuttings of well-maturing shoots. Seeds give new and often interesting forms.
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Cultivation
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Propagation
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Pests and diseases
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Species
- Selected specieswp
- Phlox adsurgens - Northern Phlox, Periwinkle phlox, Woodland phlox
- Phlox alyssifolia - Alyssumleaf phlox
- Phlox amplifolia - Largeleaf phlox
- Phlox andicola - Moss phlox, Plains phlox, Prairie phlox
- Phlox austromontana - Mountain phlox
- Phlox bifida - Cleft phlox
- Phlox borealis
- Phlox bryoides
- Phlox buckleyi - Swordleaf Phlox
- Phlox caespitosa - Cushion Phlox
- Phlox carolina - Carolina phlox, Thickleaf Phlox
- Phlox cuspidata - Pointed Phlox
- Phlox diffusa - Mat phlox, Spreading phlox
- Phlox divaricata -Blue woodland phlox, Louisiana phlox, Sweet william, Wild blue phlox
- Phlox douglasii
- Phlox drummondii - Drummond Phlox, Annual phlox, Phlox
- Phlox floridana - Florida Phlox
- Phlox glaberrima - Marsh phlox, Smooth Phlox
- Phlox glabriflora - Rio Grande phlox
- Phlox hoodii ssp. canescens - Carpet Phlox
- Phlox idahonis - Idaho Phlox
- Phlox kelseyi - Kelsey's Phlox
- Phlox latifolia - Mountain phlox, Wideflower phlox
- Phlox longifolia - Long-leaf phlox, Longleaf phlox
- Phlox maculata - Meadow Phlox, Phlox, Wild sweet William, Wild sweetwilliam
- Phlox mesoleuca - Threadleaf phlox
- Phlox missoulensis - Missoula Phlox
- Phlox mollis - Soft Phlox
- Phlox multiflora - Flowery Phlox, Rocky Mountain Phlox
- Phlox nana - Canyon phlox, Santa Fe Phlox, White-eyed phlox
- Phlox nivalis - Trailing Phlox
- Phlox ovata - Mountain Phlox
- Phlox paniculata - Fall phlox, Perennial phlox
- Phlox pilosa - Downy phlox, Fragrant phlox, Prairie Phlox
- Phlox pulchra - Alabama Phlox
- Phlox pulvinata - Cushion phlox
- Phlox roemeriana" - Golden-eye Phlox, Goldeneye phlox
- Phlox sibirica - Siberian Phlox
- Phlox speciosa - Showy phlox, Woodhouse's phlox
- Phlox stansburyi - Cold-desert phlox
- Phlox stolonifera - Creeping Phlox
- Phlox subulata - Moss Phlox, Moss pink, Rock pink
- Phlox tenuifolia - Santa Catalina Mountain phlox
| Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Many other species may be expected to appear in the lists of dealers, and there are many Latin names of domestic forms of P. Drummondii, P. paniculata- maculata, P. subulata.—P.Arend- sii, Hort. A summer - flowering dwarf perennial phlox originating with G. Arends, Germany, said to be hybrid of P. divaricata (P. canadensis) and P. paniculata (P. decussata). Sts. stiff and wiry, about 2 ft. high: fls. lavender, mauve and violet, in flattish or rounded head s.—P. Brittonii, Small. Of the P. subulata set, growing on dry mountain slopes in Va., W. Va., N. C.: corolla- lobes deeply emarginate rather than shallowly emarginate or entire as in P. subulata: upper part of plant glandular: fls. mostly white, with 2 magenta spots at base of lobes: lvs. numerous, subulate or nearly so.—P. carnea, Sims. Probably a hybrid of P. maculata and P. glaberrima: 1 1/2- 3 ft., erect, St. not spotted: lower lvs. narrow-lanceolate to linear, the upper ones oblong: fls. rose- colored to purplish, in terminal corymbs, on very short pedicels. Southern states. B.M. 2155. L. B.C. 8:711.—P. criterion, Miell. Like P. Drummondii, but perennial: perhaps hybrid of P. paniculata and P. Drummondii. F.S. 8:800.—P. Lindsayana, Hort., apparently of the P. subulata group, said to be a hybrid and useful for rockery and border.—P. sibirica, Linn. The one Asian species, occuring also in Alaska: a low loosely ceepitose species, 6-9 in. high, white-fld., mostly villous-pubescent: lvs. narrow-linear: corolla-lobes obcordate or emarginate.
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
