I PLANTED PHLOX...What are these ?

Hi...I planted several different Phlox plants in this area but now I am wondering if these huge tall plants are really phlox ? or weeds ? They are located in a raised flower bed and rather unsightly now. Would it be safe to move them at this time ?

From the picture, the leaves certainly look like phlox to me and most of them do get very tall. They have REALLY taken off. I know they may look a bit weedy now, but will really be beautifu and smell wonderful when they bloom. Phlox are one of my favorties. I would not transplant them now as they will be blooming this coming month. I'd wait until late August, after bloomtime and then move them/thin them out.

OK, Medinac...thank you...I will follow your advice and wait to thin them in the Fall.

I came back and looked at your picture again. The leaves look like phlox but as I study it more it seems like a large space between leaves - like too much stem in between and are very tall. Did you plant several plants to get such a large area of them? Have you noticed buds towards the top of the plants? Phlox form a rounded mound of buds at the tops of the stems. Its just hard to really tell from the picture if they truly are all phlox - they've got to be there somewhere. At any rate the instructions for moving/thinning are the same. I guess I'd wait to what they were until the phlox bloom. Now I'm going to have to go out tomorrow and inspect my stems and see if mine are budding yet. Good luck!

Hi Stormcloud,

I agree with medinac they do appear to be phlox. I planted some for the first time this year and I am just in love with them. They're still blooming in spite of this high-90's heat wave we've had for nearly a month. I have 12 more plants ordered for this fall. Rapidly becoming one of my favorites!! These are first-year blooms.

Great picture Steve.. beautiful color and they look pretty with your lilies. I plan on doing a whole bed of them in either fall or spring, calling it "Grandmas Garden" since I remember both my Grandmas having many phlox which is probably why I love them so - in fact I have a couple of their plants. My favorites are Starfire, Nicky and Paradise Blue. I look at your stems and they sure look like Stormcloud's. Mine are in my veggie garden and I haven't visited them lately since we've had plenty of rain to keep them watered. Just a word of warning in case you didn't already know, they multiply pretty fast.

Thanks medinac!! I really am pleased with how they look - I am surprised I never ran across them and planted them before. They're such good performers. Amd thanks for the notes on the multiplication - they can multiply away! I suppose I can divide them as well and spread them around. I only planted two varieties, three each this year - "Rowie" (pink) and "Laura" (the purple I already posted). I would love to see yours when they bloom! I ordered "Blue Paradise", "Nora Leigh" and a bunch of others for delivery this fall, so please post yours when it blooms!

Here is Rowie - it bloomed earlier and is now starting to come back again.

Rowie is beautiful. They keep coming out with new and more pretty ones all the time. I will post a picture of Paradise Blue when it blooms but don't look at the foliage. Last year and this it came up beautiful and then started to yellow and it looks terrible! I think I have alkaline soil there and it doesn't like it at all and maybe produces an iron defiency? I was going to post them on here to ask but just haven't yet. I was going to try Ironite on them but then I read somewhere that Ironite contains heavy metals (don't know how true that it but...)so I was going to look on the internet for something else (we have our own well, kids and dogs so I don't use chemicals in our yard.) They bloomed nice last year despite everything and I'm planning on moving them to the new bed anyhow. They bloom blue and as they fade go to deep purple. How nice yours are blooming already!

Incredible plant...I planted 3 this spring and they pretty much shriveled up, hope they come back next year. Apparently, I have a brown thumb :( I know what I did wrong however, planted them in too much sun. Will try again :)

Thanks medinac - maybe just a regular fertilixer like Miracle Gro might do the trick? Hmm - I wonder what could be causing the yellowing? I am a fairly experience gardener overall but very new to Phlox so I don't really have much advice to give on that. I hope yours come through all of this!! I guess I will see how tough mine are after they go into year two next year!

Hi Spunkster, mine are in full sun and it is very hot here and they seem to be OK. Do you think it might be something else? I guess there are varieties that prefer less sun than others.

Hi Steve, Here's my picture of Blue Paradise. I'm sorry to say that this year the color is just not what it should be. But, it doesn't surprise me that it didn't come up true to color based on what the poor plant looks like. Normally, it blooms blue and then changes to the color in the picture before pooping out. At least you can see from the picture how pretty the blue is. The leaves are blurry in this pic. but you can make out how badly yellow they are.

Spunkster - Here in 5a they can take alot of sun. They are another plant that will let you know when they're thirsty by wilting. They are a pretty easy plant to grow but these babies clearly do not like the soil they are in. I fertilize my hydrangea with Holly Tone and saw on the bag that Phlox are listed as an acid loving plant so I use it on all of my phlox now. My others are thriving.

Also, you can cut them back when they reach about 18" back down to 12" and they will bloom fuller but the blooms will be delayed a bit. Good idea for the really tall ones otherwise you may have to support them as the clumps get larger. You can't beat the fragrance of them! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

Wow, medinac - that is a very pretty one - I am glad I bought it and am looking forward to it c oming and seeing it bloom next spring. Thanks so much for posting your picture!

WOW....they sure are beautiful....mine look fuller than they did last year and I thinned them in the Fall ! I have recently also read a tip that you can cut them down a foot or so as they are coming up and you will still get blooms. I will do that next
Spring....these are ridiculously tall ! I will post an updated picture as soon as they bloom !

Stormcloud - You must have them in some really good soil. How tall are yours? I'd like to know their potential so when I redo that garden side I can plant them tallest to shortest - or at least try to. I have cut mine back when I have found the time and I've found that they make side shoots that make more blooms so it is worth doing. What zone are you in? I would think our weather is similar and that yours would be blooming as well. Will be looking forward to your picture.

stormcloud:
Your planting is so dense that the individual plants don't have enough space to grow strong. Better stake them now before they bloom or the whole patch will fall over!