This was given to me by a man who doesn't know it's name. Would like to know please.
Plant ID please.
It sort of looks like Drummond Phlox but not sure.
Here is a link http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PHDR
Thats what I thought but the leaves look odd and the flower is too large. Guess it could be the photo but its not quite right.
Thank you both for your reply. I think you are probably right saying Drummond Phlox. The bloom looks right---red, 1 inch in size, 5 petals. the foliage in the pictures on the link seems to vary quite a bit. My plant was just transplanted this week, so it may look disheveled.
Frostweed, I love your bed that is by the street on the slope. I have lived on a slope several times over the years and it is a challenge.
I just have to tell you how I came up with this plant. A friend and I walk several mornings a week. She too is a flower lover. We have often admired two yards on opposite corners. One of the houses recently sold. Last Monday I was walking alone and to my dismay, the new owner had ripped out about 20 ft. of flowers between the sidewalk and the curb. I NEARLY CRIED!! I came home, got a pencil and paper and returned a note saying that if he was taking out the rest of the "curb" plants that I would love to have some starts. He called me that evening and said that they were all coming out this coming weekend and to come take anything I wanted. So, myself, my DH, and my walking pal went there the next morning. We cleared out about 70 running feet of plants. We got 53 blackfoot daisies, 47 four nerve daisies, a large clump of purple coneflower and this phlox plus about 25 phlox seedlings. I shared with my walking pal, my daughter, and my next door neighbor. We are all exceeding happy!!!
One last question---Since this is identified as an annual, would I expect new plants from dropped seeds only? That appears to be at least one way because of the small seedlings we found, but in the man's center yard there is a very long row of these blooming.
Again, thanks for the info and happy gardening to you both!! Beverly
Hello Beverly, I am so glad you told us the story. What an ignorant person that new home owner is !!!
But that was a blessing for you and your friends, so I guess all is well that ends well.
I am sure the Drummond phlox will self seed for you, but if not, the seed is easy to find.
Congratulations on your big catch!!! I hope you will have a wonderful spring and a lot of fun with your new plants,
Thank you for noticing my slope, I love it too.
Josephine.
Oh, that just breaks my heart! and incites my envy! All those blackfoot daisies and 4 nerve daisies! I struggle to get them to start here. I am happy that you were there to recognize their value. er.....wanna come to a round-up? chuckle.
Some day when I'm not so busy helping with grandchildren I do want to come to a roundup. There is surely a chance that some of these blackfoots will reproduce and need a home.
Frostweed---This man really isn't ignorant, just overwhelmed. Young couple, first home, children ages 6 and 8, and they have bought a property that has more plants than you can imagine. He is going to try to maintain the front and back yards all planted full. But he didn't even know what purple cone flowers were, so like a good gardener, I offered to be available for consultation if he had any questions about what to do. Who knows, he may become overwhelmed and have to get rid of more plants. LOL I wanted to be first in line.
At least they didn't go to waste. It must have been lovely with all those native plants. I guess the new owner wants grass to water and pour poison on. Sort of sad, those plants are so easy and require so little work.
As for the phlox, mine never come back except for seedlings. They bloom spring and early in the summer then sort of decline until next spring when the seedlings come up. I am suprised one is blooming or that you saw a whole row of adult plants at this time of year.
C
I posted before your last post was complete. Perhaps they just need some gardening practice. Could you take a pic of the plants left, I would love to see them all.
Do you mean pictures of the phlox or the whole yard?
The whole yard and all the plants.
I would like to see the phlox also.
I'll try to remember to take my camera and shoot the phlox. There isn't a lot of other stuff in bloom yet and my photography isn't great, but I will try to post some pictures as time goes on.
This is going to be a great adventure, I think.
Lucky catch. It is amazing what people want to toss out and replace with bermuda grass or some other ground cover.
Marty, I'll see if I can get some 4 nerve daisies going for you.
Thank you Stephanie! Bezziec, can you maybe cultivate a relationship with the young people and educate them about what they have? Maybe they will try to keep it going and with your help we could have another convert to the native cause. I do hope so.
If they have kids 6 and 8 yrs old, they may need less pollen and somewhere to send the kids...after all, there is alwys someone else to value what they cannot grow...
How true some of us need a functional yard even if we want a pretty one.
I planted and transplanted bermuda grass for years, to have a lawn. But in this drought I have a choice. I can water what feeds me, or water bermuda. I keep bees. Flowers feed bees. Bees make honey and I sell honey. So while I have a bermuda grass back yard for grandkids and dogs, I don't water it. It's getting a bit of a patchy green now, with the little rain we got. My st augustine out front under the young trees I water has lived, a pair of green circles in the summer. The rest of the grass I'm replacing with food crops or bee fodder or mulch. Just not worth the water. And the mowing.
I agree with Gypsi. I am digging out St. Augustine as fast as I can. Flowers are so much prettier anyway and I think we may need the water to drink. If we plant mostly natives it's a win win situation. Doesn't look like we are going to get much rain.
steadycam3---cultivating an ongoing friendship with the young couple would be somewhat of a job. They live about 1 1/2 miles from me on a secluded street, so you don't go by there unless it is on purpose, they both work full time, and have the activity of 2 children. But, all is not lost. I went by there on Saturday and took some homebaked cookies as a small token of thanks. He was outside working in the drizzle cleaning leaves and debris out of the flower beds. I think they will do okay. The blackfoot and four nerve beds just looked so dreadful because they hadn't been trimmed back for a couple of years and had caught every leaf and piece of trash that had blown their way. They had no idea of how beautiful it would be with a little care. Now I think they see that. You know how it is when you have a new house and want everything to look beautiful ASAP!!
bezziec thanks for sharing your good fortune story! Sweet of you to drop back with sweets for them too. I can remember when we moved in here, I hated the look of some iris that had been let go and laying on top of the ground trying to find a place to root. I tore them out and piled them on a brush pile at the curb. They were quickly taken by some ladies walking by. We all have to start somewhere and now I have some beautiful iris in my garden and often wonder what I gave away. LOL!
newtonsthirdlaw---Here is a picture of the area of Drummond Phlox that is blooming. The blooms were facing the sun and I could not get a shot from the right direction without standing in a rose bush. At least this gives you an idea.
I haven't seen any that only have single blooms like that, must be the time of year.
Looks like the one that is in my wildflower mix. I paid about $30 for a 4 oz bag of wildflower seed in Feb 2006 and STILL have seeds left. Some of what is in it reseeds itself, some doesn't, but it appears that drummond phlox is in there. I am not sure whether it is reseeding.
I use wildflower seed for groundcover and bee forage in areas that aren't trampled by dogs and kids, and I try to keep it watered at least long enough to let it go to seed. Of my 1/3 acre, I water just about half, including the foundation under my pier and beam house. (I ran a hose under the house to the driest zone.)