PHLOX 



PHLOX 



2587 



cluster should be removed; the plant is an end- 

 bloomer, and when the terminal flower-cluster has 

 matured the other shoots continue the growth and 

 thereby provide a succession of bloom. This phlox 

 has now varied so much under domestication that 

 packets of mixed seed are likely to give tall and 

 dwarf, large-flowered and small-flowered forms, with 

 very unsatisfactory results. If mixed colors are 

 desired, pains should be taken to secure seed that will 

 produce plants of similar height and season. Some of 

 the cheap seed may produce very disappointing plants 

 even under the best conditions. 



The summer perennial phloxes of gardens are of 

 several races. They are probably the issue of P. 

 paniculata and P. maculata, although their origin and 

 characteristics need to be worked over. This group of 

 plants is amongst the most showy of garden herbs. 

 The terminal panicles have become 1 foot long in some 

 forms, and as densely filled as a hydrangea. They are 

 specially desirable when color display is sought in con- 

 nection with formal or semi-formal designs, as on ter- 

 races and by balustrades. The colors are most frequent 

 in reds, but there are many purple, white, salmon, and 

 parti-colored varieties. The summer perennial phlox 

 should have a rich and rather moist soil if it is to be 

 grown to perfection. It should never suffer for moisture 

 or food. Let each clump have a space, when fully 

 developed, of 2 to 3 feet across. The plants as purchased 

 from nurseries usually do not come into full floriferous- 

 ness until their third year. For the highest satisfac- 

 tion in blooms, the plants should be relatively young or 

 at least often renewed by dividing the clump. The stool 

 gradually enlarges outward. From the young vigor- 

 ous shoots on the outside of the clump the new plants 

 should be reared, if one desires to propagate the variety 

 to any extent. Old stools should be taken up every 

 year or two, and divided and transplanted. This work 

 is performed in the fall, after the growth has ceased. By 

 this process, the plants do not become weak and root- 

 bound. Inferior and vigorous seedlings are often allowed 

 to grow about the old plant, causing the named varie- 

 ties to "run out." The modern varieties should not 

 remain undisturbed for more than three or four years. 

 One of the requisites is to secure in the first place stock 

 that is strong and healthy. Phloxes usually bloom in 

 early summer and midsummer, but if the tips of the 

 shoots are pinched out once or twice in early summer, 

 the bloom may be delayed until late summer or autumn. 

 Named varieties are propagated by side shoots and by 

 cuttings of well-maturing shoots. Seeds give new and 

 often interesting forms. 



A. Species annual, pubescent: upper Ivs. often alternate. 



1. Drummondii, Hook. Figs. 2909, 2910. Erect 

 branching annual, more or less villous and viscid, 6-18 

 in. tall: Ivs. alternate, oblong-acute or lanceolate, the 

 upper ones more or less clasping: fls. showy, in broad 

 mostly flat-topped cymes, the calyx-lobes long and 

 narrow and spreading or recurving in fr., the corolla- 

 lobes broad-ovate. Sandy soils. Texas. B.M. 3441. 

 B.R. 1949. This is the original of the common annual 

 garden phlox, now cult, in numerous varieties. The 

 seeds were received in England in the spring of 1835, 

 from Texas, having been collected by Drummond. 

 In Oct. of that year it was described and figured 

 in B.M., by W. J. Hooker, as Phlox Drummondii. 

 The fl. was described as "pale purple without, 

 within, or on the upper side, of a brilliant rose-red 

 or purple, varying exceedingly on different individuals 

 in intensity, and in their more or less red or purple 

 tinge: the eye generally of an exceedingly deep 

 crimson." Lindley described and figured it in B.R., 

 for 1837, describing the fls. as "either light, or deep 

 carmine, on the inner surface of their corolla, and a 

 pale blush on the outside, which sets off wonderfully 

 the general effect. A bed of this plant has hardly yet 

 been seen; for it is far too precious and uncommon to 

 be possessed by any one, except in small quantities; 

 but I have had such a bed described to me, and I can 

 readily believe that it produced all the brilliancy that 

 my informant represented." 



"The annual garden phloxes are now of many kinds 

 and races. They may be thrown into two groups: Var. 

 rotundata, Voss, with petals large, broad, and entire 

 or nearly so, making a circular outline; var. stellaris, 

 Voss, the star phloxes, the petals narrow, cuspidate 

 or variously fringed or cut. To the former belong such 

 races or forms as Heynholdii, Deppei, IsabeUina, for- 

 mosa, splendens, hortensiaeflora or verbeweflora, grandi- 

 flora. With the latter (var. stellaris) may be classed 

 cuspidata, fimbriata or laciniata, stettata. There are 

 also dwarf and intermediate races of annual phloxes 

 as well as semi-double forms. For a discussion of the 

 heredity of color in Phlox Drummondii, see Gilbert, 

 Journ. Agr. Research, July, 1915. 



There are several annual phloxes in Texas, some of 

 them perhaps to be regarded as variants of P. Drum- 

 mondii. P. villosissima, Small (P. Drummondii var. 

 villosissima, Gray), is very villous and viscous, the fls. 

 large and more scattered, the Ivs. mostly opposite and 

 the blade thick and bristly: corolla pale lavender, the 



2910. Quedlinburg or star phlox. A horticultural form of Phlox 

 Drunraondii. (Natural size) 



