Garden Phlox-HELP!

Can someone tell me how to root Tall garden phlox? should I just snip off a piece from the top at an angle remove the leaves

1- rooting gel and sand/MG dirt
2- cloning machine and wait
3- stick it in a glass of water and hope for the best

what do I do????

Why not try all three? From what I've heard, though, you might be more successful taking your cuttings in the spring. If you do try it now, be sure to remove any bloom on the cutting. Check in again and let us know how it worked, ok?

I dig up my phlox and seperate them, then replant them. Of course they do better when it's cooler outside, Like early morning, or late summer or early fall. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.


roseycats
Dayton, Ohio
Zone 5

This message was edited Sep 19, 2010 12:15 PM

This message was edited Sep 19, 2010 12:18 PM

Sure I understand. Glad you figured out a plan. I have one called Miss Mary that is so wonderful. It spreads pretty quickly and I dig it about every 3rd year. Can't have too many Marys.

Say ghopper!

I never heard of Miss Mary phlox before. What color is it?

Miss Mary is a shocking rose-red. Very bright, reblooms well if you keep her deadheaded and usually doesn't mildew for me. We've had a damp, humid summer and one clump does look pretty ratty right now. She is not a subtle bloomer. She'll catch you eye from a good distance away. I do have a picture somewhere, I'll post when I locate it, but I have yet to get a photo that really shows the proper color.

I have had surprising and wonderful luck with phlox propagation both in spring and in fall. I left
most of my new phlox from 2009 in pots. In the spring, little shoots were coming up at a distance
from the mother plant. I pulled them out (with roots or not) and stuck them in pots of soil, several
of the same kind in the same pot. After about a month of this, I had more than I could handle and
had to stop. I also learned by taking the mother phlox from the pot with all the soil held firm by
its tremendous root development, that the roots going down from the side of the pot were actually
growing (or becoming) little plants. These too thrived when I separated them and stuck them in
group pots. I found that I could start others in the early fall with the little ones which shot up at
some distance from the mother plant in the pot. It is sooooo easy to have more phlox than you
could ever handle this way!

Gloria, I want to try cuttings this spring, so I may need your guidance. Do you plan to gather any of the seeds from the tall garden phlox? If you do, can you share a few seeds from them? What varieties did you plant? Several people have given me some plants but they haven't really bloomed a lot. Guess this year they should do better. When somebody gives me some plants that they have dug up from their garden that needed dividing, when I plant them, should I prune them all the way to soil line? I transplanted them as she gave them to me and of course, all the flowers/leaves are bare now, wonder if it will hurt the plant now to go out there and cut it back to the soil line?

I need help with transplanting tall garden phlox, and I'm sorry for jumping in here, but I didn't know where else to post this.

I need to move a bunch of them to make room for more daylilies, and I'm not sure when the best time to do it is. I hope to get this done during the first week of April or a little earlier when the ground thaws out some. My question is, do I need to wait until the little shoots are coming up, or should I do it before any new growth has started? I really love them, and want to do what works in order to give them the best chance to survive. I didn't pay a lot for them, but I still don't want to lose any of them!

I'm in zone 5, and we had snow at the end of May last year, but that isn't normal. It is usually done freezing by then too, but I never know from year to year. I guess another worry I have is what would happen if I move them, and then we get a deep freeze? Would that kill them? I'm an avid mulcher, and the plants will be well mulched as soon as they are replanted, so maybe that would help if it freezes for a long period? I've only had these plants for about 3 or 4 years, and they have done really well for me (except Blue Boy which hasn't bloomed once!), so I'd love to do whatever it takes to keep them doing really well for me!

Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

Natalie

Natalie, Why don't you wait until you have shoots about 2",
then you can pull out or break them off and put them in
pots of potting soil. The mother plant won't be affected
except that it will produce more shoots. The shoots will
continue all summer so that by fall, you will too many. I
see it as a win/win situation.

I dig mine anytime after they start to grow in the Spring, all the way up to Fall. Even if they are 3' tall and blooming. I just water them in well and keep them moist for a while. I don't usually lose any.
I bought Starfire years ago and still struggle to keep it growing, but I love the color!
I also bought Orange Perfection and it's eh, but I keep it.
Franz Shubert is wonderful and has given me many beautiful pink babies. I moved a lot of those last Fall and can't wait to see how I did, LOL!
Nicky is a vibrant purple and gave me a beautiful cherry-purple seedling I call Nicole :o)

The rest were the mauves a friend gave me and they are worth more than those I bought. Last Fall I really meant to amend some dirt and replant them, but I got too busy. I hope to this year as they've been in the same dirt for over 10 years.

billyporter, Thanks for giving me the confidence to move them! I've moved 2 smaller ones before and they didn't do very good at all, but I figured it was because I did it in the middle of summer. I had no choice at the time, so I took a chance. Hopefully they will come back this year. I figured getting an earlier start, before it got too hot, would be better.

gloriag, that would be great, but I have to move the entire plant, and I don't have room for any extras that may grow in pots. It's nice to know though that I could get extra plants this way!

Natalie

Natalie, I'm betting you will find healthy sprouts this Spring. Phlox seem to be pretty hardy. I think they have to be because they need divided every so often. I chop into a plant just to share a chunk with someone.

Keeping them watered is the key. I also treat my beebalm the same way, but that's another thread :o)

Thanks billyporter! You've taken all the worry away! I really wasn't sure that they were all that hardy when it came to moving them, but I think they'll do fine. I love beebalm, but don't have any - yet!

I can't find where it is that I should be posting questions like this, so I apologize for jumping in here!

Natalie

Natalie, I think you're probably in the right place for this question. I'm not sure there is a Phlox forum. It's been a while since I've had time to explore. I used to check out all kinds of forums :o)

I didn't find a Phlox forum, but I feel bad about jumping in on this thread, especially since I didn't start it. I just can't find where to start a new thread! I'm really new here, but I'll figure it out eventually!

Natalie

You'll be suprised at how easily a thread morphs into something different even if you started it :o)

I think it's all good as long as the initial question is answered.

Besides you came in just the way we do when we don't know where we should be!