Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. IV St. Louis, Mo., July, 1916 No. 7 
HARDY PHLOX 
Among the great variety of perennial flowering plants 
which are in use in our gardens for border effects and color 
grouping, the phlox may well lay claim to a high position. 
Their vigor, upright, compact habit of growth, immense 
panicles of flowers, and long period of bloom make them 
a great asset. The colors of the flowers are rich and varied, 
comprising white, pink, rose, salmon, orange, scarlet, crim-_ 
son, lilac, lavender, mauve, purple, and violet. Phlox 
are among the earliest plants to appear in the spring and the 
last to die down in the fall. A period of continuous bloom 
from July to October may be secured by serge a succes- 
sion of varieties and by cutting away the first trusses, others 
being produced later. : 
_ _ The present-day phlox are chiefly of hybrid origin. They 
belong to the family Polemoniaceae and are close relatives 
to Gilia and Polemonium. Phlox paniculata (decussata) 
and P. maculata were the parents of most of the highly de- 
veloped varieties of to-day. Phlox paniculata is an erect 
plant growing to a height of two to four feet, with pink- 
purple flowers varying to white. Phlox maculata is a some- 
what more slender and a more dwarf pa with spotted 
stems and pink-purple flowers. Both of these species are 
indigenous to the United States, but up to 1850 they were 
seldom cultivated. At that time improvement was begun, 
and by 1885 varieties of such high merit had been produced 
that it seemed that a stage had been reached which would 
be difficult to surpass. However, this opinion was soon dis- 
pelled as the phlox shortly demonstrated that its powers — 
of variation and improvement were not yet exhausted. The 
chief advancement up to thirty years ago was the develop- — 
ment in the size and shape of the flowers, while improve- 
ment of color was overlooked. At that time there was a 
superabundance of varieties with pink, peer and slate- 
colored flowers, with or without deeper coloring at the center. - 
Later, see reds made their appearance, followed by gee <8 Pa 
scarlets of dazzling brilliancy, and. in due course nae Sys 
