Fabulous Phlox, they have become really popular in the last few years especially with the trend to more pastel and peachy tones. I adore them and I never seem to grow enough of them so this year I’m going big on Phlox. I first grew the beautiful Phlox ‘Sugar Stars’ which has delicate little flowers in a range of purples and blues. The great thing about Phlox is that the flowers are all slightly different and you get lots of different shades of blue. Then I tried the ultra fashionable Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ and completely fell in love. This has shades of creams, apricot, with hints of pink and white. Almost as delicious as the dessert that it is named after (one of my favourites). I’ve also tried Phlox ‘Cherry Caramel’, another lovely variety which is like Creme Brulee but with shades of pink through it, often the eye of the flower is bright pink.
There are three things that are fabulous about them and why they are perfect for an annual cut flower patch.
Firstly they have a lovely scent, a really delicate one, not too overwhelming and there aren’t that many annual cut flowers that are scented so that is a major plus. Secondly they are a proper cut and come again annual you only need to do one sowing of them and they will keep flowering till the end of the season. I’ve been picking it in September at least. Finally they have such an amazing vase life, two weeks at least, and sometimes more. I’ll often dismantle a bouquet that I’ve made where the Phlox is still going strong whilst other flowers have faded and then pop it into a smaller vase by itself till it goes over.
They also deserve close attention to the beauty of the buds, the petals are twisted into a tight bud and unfurl, so gorgeous.
They are pretty easy to grow too, you just need to remember that they are a half hardy annual and so won’t cope with any frost. They have small brown seeds and I prefer to sow them undercover with some warmth into seed trays or 9cm pots and cover with compost. I sowed mine in mid-March last year and put them in my greenhouse. I pricked the seedlings out individually into pots and then I planted them out once the risk of frost has passed, so for me that was at the end of May. If you don’t have anywhere you can grow under cover then you can also perfectly easily sow directly once the risk of frost has passed in May and because they have such a long flowering season you will still get plenty of blooms. They can be grown quite close together as they will then support each other, but growing through some jute netting will give them support. The other vital thing to do is you need to pinch them out two or three times to allow it to bush out and then it will send out nice long stems. But just keep picking them and they will keep going.
I planted them in one of my raised beds in a block but I also planted them in with my Dahlias in the big dustbins that I have in my back garden, along with Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’ and they mingle and entwine with them below and add some extra colour.
Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ is a perfect partner in a bouquet with my other favourite annual Cosmos ‘Apricotta’ which I wrote about recently.
Here with Cosmos ‘Purity’ and Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Astrantia ‘Buckland, Aster ‘Little Carlow’ and Cobaea scandens.
Here in this posy is Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ with Sunflower ‘Ruby Eclipse, Sunflower ‘Red Sun’, Rudbeckia ‘Sahara’, Cosmos ‘Purity’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Ammi visnaga, Panicum ‘Frosted Exposion’ and Nicotiana ‘Sensation’.
In this posy Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ with Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Canterbury Bells and that really lovely but not that well known annual Amberboa muricata.
Here is Phlox ‘Creme Brulee’ with Scabiosa ‘Beaujolais Bonnets’, Cosmos ‘Apricotta’, Ammi visnaga, Panicum ‘Frosted Explosion’, Dahlia ‘Rip City’ and my favourite drama queen Amaranthus Red.
Finally you can see that Phlox ‘Sugar Stars’ goes brilliantly with the yellows and golds of Rudbeckias and Helianthus.
Yes you can see that annual phloxes snuck into a lot of my posies this year!
Whilst I’m writing about fabulous phlox it would be remiss of me not to mention the perennial Phlox which also make fabulous cut flowers, with the added bonus of them coming back year on year. These flower in mid to late summer and again have an amazing scent which is often a bit spicy and like cloves. I have a few in my garden, Phlox ‘David’ which is a pure white flower, Phlox ‘Eventide’ with lilac flowers and one of my favourites Phlox ‘Blue Paradise’ which is a bit of a kaleidoscope of purples and blues. I’m letting them bulk up a bit before I start cutting from them as they have not been planted that long in my garden. We’ve just been potting these up from bare roots for sale in a month or so at Bluebell cottage gardens and nursery.
Hope you are getting ready for the new seed sowing season!
Higgledy Anne
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