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Summer Phlox

Phlox paniculata

Also known as: Garden Phlox, Tall Phlox

Garden phlox is the backbone of the late-summer border, carrying large domed panicles of fragrant pink to purple flowers for six weeks when little else of that size is open. Each flower is a narrow tube with a flat face, too deep for most bees, so the visitors are butterflies, clearwing moths and hummingbirds — it is one of the best nectar plants a garden can hold for swallowtails. Powdery mildew is its one real fault and it is a siting problem before it is a spray problem: morning sun, air on all sides, and a third of the stems thinned out in spring will take care of most of it. Cultivars vary enormously in mildew resistance, and the volunteer seedlings that appear around a planting revert toward a washed magenta that will slowly take over a bed if allowed to stand. It wants steady moisture and drops its lower leaves in a dry spell. Cut stems last well and the scent carries across a room.

Family

Polemoniaceae

Type

wildflower

Lifespan

perennial

Height

2–4 ft

Spacing

2–3 ft apart

Light

sun

Soil moisture

moist

Soil pH

acidic, alkaline, neutral

Bloom

June, July, August

Bloom colors

pink, purple

Wildlife value

pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds

Landscape uses

border

Native states

AL, AR, DC, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV