Phlox subulate - planting and care in open ground, varieties with photos and descriptions

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Irreplaceable ground cover plants help designers create the unique appearance of a garden or park. A striking representative of this group is the perennial creeping phlox.

The flowering carpet that the bushes form is completely strewn with bright lilac, pink, purple and other shades of inflorescences. An elegant cover forms in early spring; it can be seen in rock gardens and lawns, flower beds and hanging flowerpots.

Phloxes are so unpretentious that beginning gardeners can easily master their cultivation. Provide them with light and an area without stagnant moisture - then they will cope on their own.

What else do these low flowering bushes need for unfading growth? Which variety of phlox to choose and how to propagate perennial ground cover flowers.

Description of the plant

Phlox subulata is a species of plant from the Sinyukhov family. This is an evergreen herbaceous perennial from the eastern and northern parts of North America, where it grows in dry, open, sandy areas: wastelands, wastelands, forest edges. These long-lived plants are often grown in gardens, in a wide variety of varieties. They bloom from April to May.

The Latin name Phlox means "flame". The awl part of the name refers to the pointed, needle-like leaves.

Botanical characteristics:

• Form - sod perennial plant, creating compact, dense, low, cushion-shaped, spreading carpets 10-15 cm high.
• Shoots are creeping, recumbent, highly branched, pubescent or slightly pubescent. The height of the shoots does not exceed 10 cm. With age, the shoots can become woody, hard, and dry.
• The leaves are opposite, lanceolate, pointed, awl-shaped (similar to an awl), densely located on the stem, slightly pubescent. Leaf width 5-6 mm, length 10-16 mm, rarely 20 mm. A valuable advantage of the species is its evergreen leaves, which persist until spring.
• Flowers – grouped 2-4-6 in clusters. The five petals of the crown are twice as long as the sepals. The petals are rounded at the ends, widely spread to the sides, cut at the end. During the flowering period, the turf is densely covered with flowers. The color of flowers of cultivated varieties varies: white, pink, red, purple, violet, less often blue; there are single-color or two-color varieties.
• Roots – a fairly deep root system, thanks to which plants are resistant to drought and can be used to strengthen slopes and line walls.

Flowering period: from April to early June.

Plants bloom unusually profusely. Flowers appear on the plant in such numbers that the leaves underneath are almost invisible; they attract butterflies to the garden. The plant grows strongly to the sides, sometimes creating spreading carpets.

Phlox awl-shaped also looks good after the flowering period. Cushion-shaped, spreading clusters of leaves, 10-15 cm high, remain in flower beds. This makes the plant ideal for rock gardens. Their fine, needle-like leaves have great charm and their very intense green color makes them an excellent backdrop for summer blooming species. The awl-shaped species is very frost-resistant, copes well with diseases and pests.

To be convinced of the beauty of this plant, it is worth looking at the blooming phlox carpets in Hitsujiyama Park in Japan. About 400 thousand plants were planted on an area of ​​more than 17 hectares. 9 varieties were used.

Bavaria

Bavaria is a variety of phlox with unusual elegant colors. The flowers of this plant are two-colored: the white petals at the base are colored with purple “rays.”

These phlox bloom twice - in late spring - early summer and in late summer - early autumn. True, the second flowering is more sparse.

Interesting varieties

The phlox genus includes about 80 species of colorful summer flowers and hundreds of varieties. In gardens, paniculata phlox (flox paniculata) is usually grown, characterized by a vertical structure and a height of up to 100 cm. However, the ground cover phlox subulata (Phlox subulata), which is the subject of this article, is gaining increasing popularity. A very similar ground cover species is also Phlox stolonifera - both species bloom in late May - early June.

Inspired by the grace of perennials, botanists in the 19th century crossed wild and domesticated species, achieving new aesthetic effects. Today, advanced cultivation and crossing of phlox is carried out by the Americans and the Dutch.

Of the latest creations, the early flowering varieties of the Fabulous group with very interestingly colored flowers (Blue Dark Center, Blue Violet, Rose, White) are interesting. They bloom very early - in March. These plants bush well, maintain a compact shape, and cover the surface well.

An interesting new product is the GoldiPhlox group, which includes 5 varieties with large flowers in color: white, white-blue, red-pink and two shades of pink. These varieties bloom early and are characterized by the same height within the group.

Photo. Variety "Goldiflox pink" GoldiPhlox Pink

Varieties from the “Spring” group are characterized by large flowers of bright colors:

• “Blue” Blue – with light blue flowers;

• “Duck Pink” Dark Pink – with pink flowers;

• “Hot Pink” Hot Pink – dark pink variety;
• “Lilas” Lilac – dark pink;

• “Ash” Purple – purple;

• "White" White - white.

Photo. "Spring Hot Pink" Spring'Hot Pink

New varieties are also excellent for planting in balcony and terrace containers - single or multi-species compositions.

White, beige

White varieties are often used; they combine well with other types and are excellent for gardens and rock gardens:

• “Mashsne” Maischnee – dense bush, profusely flowering;

• "Morgenstern" Morgenstern - flesh-colored flowers with a dark eye;

• "Calvides White" Calvides White;

• “White Delight” White Delight – large flowers;

• “Amazing Grace” Amazing Grace;

• "Bavaria" Bavaria - beautiful white flowers with a blue eye.

Pink

Pink varieties are very popular. They have warm, delicate colors and look great on the edges of flower beds. Examples:

• "Camlensis" Camlaensis - large dark pink flowers;
• "Moerheimi" Moerheimi - intense pink flowers;

• "Ronsdorfer Schone" Ronsdorfer Schone - salmon-pink flowers;

• “Scarlet Flame” Scarlet Flame – hot pink;

• "Phlox trot pink" Phlox trot Pink is a new variety with very large bright pink flowers.

Purple

These varieties look very bright in the flowerbed and amaze with the intensity of the color of the flowers. Example:

• "Ash Beauty" Purple Beauty;

• "Alice Wilson" Alice Wilson.

Reds

Red cushions of ground cover phlox will look bright spots on a ridge or in a rock garden. They usually play first fiddle in flower beds.

Examples of varieties:

• "Atropurpurea" Atropurpurea - flowers are intensely dark red;

• "Temiskaming" Temiskaming - dark leaves, red-carmine flowers;

• "Red Wings" Red Wings.

Blue

Blue phlox seeds have recently appeared on the market. The most beautifully presented are 3 blue varieties:

• Emerald Cushion Blue;

• F. Wilson - a vigorous variety, sensitive to frost - requires winter shelter;

• “Blue Dac Sente” Blue Dark Center – blue-white with a dark eye.

Two-color

Two-color flowers look very interesting, with a red or coral stripe through the center of the petals:

• "Amazing Grace" Amazing Grace - white flowers with a pink-purple eye;

• "Coral eye" Coral Eye - light pink flowers with a red-coral eye;

• "Candy Stripes" Candy Stripes - two-color, white and pink flowers;

• "Nelsonium" Nelsonii - white flowers with a red eye;
• “Marjorie” Marjorie – pink with a dark pink eye.

G.F. Wilson

Phlox variety Wilson is one of the easiest to care for among the flowers of the awl-shaped group. It grows quickly and easily, forming a cushion up to 20 cm high. Its flowers have a delicate lilac hue.

Phloxes are great for creating mixborders and go well with daffodils, irises and other crops that bloom in May.

Growing conditions

Subulate varieties of phlox do not have any special requirements other than lighting. The most important factor is to provide them with a highly sunny position. In partial shade they bloom poorly or not at all, become very thin, lose their good shape, and may begin to hurt.

The perennial has no special soil requirements. The natural habitat of the plant is sandy soils. In the garden, ordinary garden soil is sufficient for it, if it is permeable.

Phlox grows better on soils:

• water-permeable;
• sandy;
• fertile;
• moderately humid.

Phloxes do not like soil:

• very wet;
• cold;
• heavy;
• clayey.

Plants do not have exorbitant needs for water and tolerate temporary drought well, although they look more beautiful and grow better if they are watered regularly.

Although awl-shaped varieties of phlox are considered resistant to diseases and pests, in unfavorable conditions they can get sick, become weak, and vulnerable. A shaded area often leads to the development of fungal pathogens.

Crimson Beauty

The needle-like greenery that forms the lush turf of the Crimson Beauty phlox is decorative at any time of the year - even in winter it does not lose its bright, juicy color. The flowers are pink in color with burgundy “strokes” closer to the center of the corolla. Under bright sun on ordinary, unenriched soil, it grows very well. At the end of spring, the lush evergreen carpet is covered with pink flowers in the shade of ripe raspberries. Ideal for rock gardens, rocky flower beds, terraces.

Reproduction

The awl-shaped type of phlox can be grown in 4 ways:

1. sowing seeds;
2. apical cuttings;
3. division;
4. layering.

By division

Propagation by dividing the root ball is carried out in late spring (after flowering) or in the second half of summer. A plant that has grown over several years is dug up, trying to dig up the entire root ball, carefully divided into parts, and the resulting specimens are planted separately. Plants quickly take root and grow well.

Cuttings

Reproduction is easy and very fast. In August, fragments of shoots several centimeters long can be cut from the bushes. It is enough to plant the resulting cuttings in moist soil with peat, place them in a warm place protected from the wind, and remember to water regularly. After 3-5 weeks, the cuttings will take root. For the winter, the container with seedlings must be protected from frost.

Seeds

In the garden, phlox can be propagated by seeds. Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out in a greenhouse in late autumn. In May, the seedlings are already large enough to be planted in a permanent place.

Phlox set seeds and can be collected for sowing, but they are rarely used for amateur propagation of plants, because seedlings obtained from self-collected seeds may not repeat the varietal characteristics of the mother specimen.

By layering

You can also propagate ground cover phlox by layering. To do this, the shoots are bent to the ground, you can secure them with a metal hook in the ground and fall asleep, at this point the shoots will give roots. Reproduction by layering is carried out after flowering.

Nettleton Variation

This variety is good not only for its rich pink flowers, but also for its beautiful, “mint”-colored foliage. The bushes will decorate the border, alpine hill or flower garden even after flowering has ended.

Planting in open ground

Subulate (Phlox subulata) phlox is a frost-resistant species, but can freeze in cold winters and can be quite capricious. Therefore, plants should be planted in the spring, when they are well developed and the risk of frost has passed. You can plant phlox in the fall, if you have a month left before frost, preferably in early autumn.

Before planting phlox, you need to thoroughly clear the area of ​​weeds; if it is lowland, it is worth making drainage so that the water does not stagnate, which is detrimental to the plants. If phlox used to grow on the site or there were plants sick with powdery mildew, it is worth pouring boiling water over the planting holes. Fertilizers are not needed when planting.

The plant looks better in greater density. To get the effect of a colorful carpet, seedlings are planted at a distance of approximately 30 × 30 cm or 20 × 30 cm.

After planting, there is no need to fertilize phloxes, only watering is necessary.

Soil requirements

All creeping phloxes thrive on loose, dry soils. It's surprising, but in fertile soils they produce more greenery than inflorescences. The fact is that in the wild they always grow on “poor” land. In regions with acidic soil, phlox will lack macronutrients, so the soil must be limed before planting. Most often, dolomite flour is used for this. Depending on the type of land, the amount of limestone can vary from 230 to 440 grams per square meter. On heavy soil, sand must be added to the holes immediately before planting.

Growing and care

Phlox subulates are a very graceful and undemanding plant; they are easy to grow. You need to remember about regular weeding and weed control. Apart from weeding, the perennial does not require regular care.

Once the plant has finished blooming, its flowering shoots usually do not need to be cut off (as with many other perennials). If it is provided with the proper conditions, it will repeat flowering in the summer (in August), although it will be much weaker than in the spring.

Watering, fertilizing

Phlox groundcovers are fairly drought-resistant plants. But during a prolonged drought, they expect watering.

Varieties of awl-shaped phlox do not tolerate organic matter that acidifies the soil, so there is no need to mulch them with compost or feed them with rotted manure.

In spring and summer, you can feed phlox with multi-component slow-release fertilizers.

Trimming

In early spring (March and early April), it is worth pruning phlox shoots that have partially dried out or died (for example, after winter frosts, drought).

Photo. This is what poorly overwintered shoots look like in mid-April. They need pruning. Dried shoots that need to be removed are marked in red.

Plant after pruning.

Plant a month later.

If the shoots grow too much in the flower beds or dry out, you can trim the bush with pruning shears, but from the sides, not from the top. It is not recommended to break off shoots manually.

In May, the plants create beautiful cushions of flowers - white, pink or purple. Faded flowers of awl-shaped phlox are not cut off. In any case, it will be difficult because there are hundreds of them. Phlox will bloom again in August, when the day lasts 15 hours. However, there will not be as many flowers as in spring.

Photo. This is what phlox shoots look like immediately after flowering. They don't need to be trimmed.

There is no need to cut this species for the winter.

Autumn care, preparation for winter

Phloxes of this species (subulate) overwinter quite well and are completely frost-resistant (frost-hardiness zones 3-10). In the temperate climate of the Middle Zone and Moscow region, phlox is quite frost-resistant, but in colder regions of the country, during harsh, snowless winters it can partially freeze. Therefore, before the onset of severe frosts, phloxes should be covered for the winter with branches of coniferous trees, shrubs or agrofibre. In Siberia and the Urals, subulate phloxes must be covered with covering material for the winter; in the spring, when the snow melts, the cover must be removed.

Many relatively delicate varieties have lower frost resistance - GF Wilson, Red Wings.

Diseases, pests

This type of phlox is very resistant to diseases and pests. Plants planted in the wrong place (too wet or too dry) or weakened by a heavy, cold winter can be attacked by fungal diseases (powdery mildew). Humidity and a shaded position contribute to the occurrence of the disease. Powdery mildew should be controlled by spraying with fungicides.

It is recommended to carry out preventive treatments several times a season: in the spring, when the shoots reach 10 cm and then once a month. Treated with Topaz.

If the soil is too dry, the plant may be susceptible to spider mite attacks. Appropriate acaricides are used against ticks.

Damage to the plant can be caused by voles and moles, which destroy the delicate roots of phlox. This type of phlox has a deep root system, but the roots are very thin, even ants who have built an anthill nearby can damage them. If the root system is damaged, phlox may not survive the winter. Moles and voles can gnaw off the roots of phlox; serious damage to the root system can lead to the death of flowers. It is necessary to fight rodents; the anthill can be moved or sprinkled with an anti-ant preparation.

Sometimes phlox appears white in early spring, this happens when it is burned by the early spring sun in parts of the garden where the snow cover melts faster (south, southeast). This is not critical, the plant then recovers.

Transfer

Phlox of this type look good during the first 4-5 years of cultivation; pruning the upper parts of shoots with wilted inflorescences helps with this. Then they should be rejuvenated to prevent aging, bare shoots, and “baldness” of the bushes, since the central part of the bush is partially deprived of leaves and loses its decorative value. You should dig up the plant, select young, healthy parts and plant them in a new place.

Violet Pinwheels

The jagged and inverted petals of this phlox resemble the blades of a pinwheel - this shape gives the variety its name. The flowers are a soft lilac color with thin petals. Forms clumps that are soft to the touch and resemble a pillow. Like all awl-shaped phloxes, it does not tolerate excessive watering, so the soil should be loose and well-drained. In deep shade it withers and stops blooming. Perfect for a well-lit rock garden, rocky hill, mixborder. Growing on a slope, it will be free from the problem of stagnant water.

Shelter of awl-shaped phlox for the winter

The American guest is quite winter-hardy. In the southern regions, it will calmly overwinter without shelter. Colder climates will require careful management of the dormant period.

With the onset of frost, the root collar of the perennial should be mulched with peat. In addition to serving as a warm blanket, it will be an excellent top dressing next spring. To protect the rhizome as much as possible from the cold, cover it with spruce branches.

Take it into service! If the winter has little snow, you should try to add snow to the flowerbed. Provided there is a snow cover more than half a meter high, the exotic will survive even the harshest winter.

Damping off with the onset of an early thaw is much worse for shoots. Even if the shoots are severely damaged, the perennial will recover fairly quickly. Fertilizing with potassium humate stimulates growth.

Purple Beauty

Forms turf in the form of a lush cushion. It blooms from mid-May to mid-June; in August-September a second wave of flowering is often observed, but it is more sparse. The flowers are lilac in color with dark purple “strokes” at the core of the corolla. Prefers stony and rocky slopes, hilly places, well lit by the sun. Flowers need soil that is not too fertile, but loose and without excessive moisture. In a mixborder, rock garden, or just on the lawn, these phloxes will become a bright color accent.

Scarlet Flame

During flowering, the bushes of this awl-shaped phlox are covered with fairly large flowers with a diameter of about 2 cm. The name of the variety translates as “scarlet radiance,” but the flowers of Scarlet Flame are more of a dark pink hue.

Among the special care requirements of these phloxes, one can highlight only sufficient lighting (sun or partial shade) and high water permeability of the soil - subulate phloxes react poorly to waterlogging.

When to sow awl-shaped phlox seeds for seedlings

Those wishing to grow seedlings are advised to sow them in March, but sowing can be done before winter. The seeds are placed on the bed in increments of 3-4 cm and sprinkled with a little soil. Seedlings will appear in the spring. After throwing out 3-4 leaves, they can be planted into holes in increments of 15-20 cm. In the second year, the seedlings will bloom.

On a note! Experienced gardeners consider growing moss carnation by seed a waste of time. This method is used in practice only by breeders.

Amazing Grace

Bushes of the Emazing Grace variety (“Amazing Grace” - in honor of the famous English church hymn) are slightly smaller in size than other phlox of this species, but they are not inferior in beauty to them. The flowers of this perennial have a characteristic color: white petals with a crimson ring around the center.

Emerald Cushn Blue

Small (about 1.5 cm) purple phlox flowers of this variety bloom on an emerald green cushion of leaves. The size of an adult Emerald Cushn Blue bush is approximately 15x60 cm.

This variety will grow in any type of soil, but only grows truly vigorously in well-drained, sandy soils and in good light.