A carpet of Phlox subulata 
THE HARDIEST AND LONGEST BLOOMING FLOWER IN THE GARDEN—ITS ORIGIN AND 
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS — FALL PROPAGATION — HOW TO CARE FOR SEEDLINGS 
by Grace Tabor 
N OT so very long ago an English writer dwelt at some length 
on the fact that this magnificent and beautiful flower has 
no past—that it is strictly a modern plant—and that when the 
great writers of the Elizabethan Age, who so frequently made men¬ 
tion of the flowers of their time, were busy with their quills, phlox, 
in its numerous natural varieties, grew only as a weed in the un¬ 
trodden wilds of North America. So it makes no appeal to an 
Englishman’s patriotism—nor to his sentiment as an old-time fa¬ 
vorite linked with the lives of many generations; yet, in spite of 
this, its position is all its most ardent admirers might wish, be¬ 
cause, as this writer explains, the plant compels interest by its 
own merits. 
It does, indeed; and when we consider that in addition to these 
superlative merits, we in America have the knowledge that it is 
a contribution of our own land to tbe gardens of the world, surelv 
our enthusiasm for this flower ought to equal the enthusiasm of 
the Dutch for their bulbs (which are not distinctively Dutch, by 
the way), or for the people of the Far East for their chrysanthe¬ 
mum and iris. 
Patriotic fervor may very well become frenzy before a mass of 
this sumptuous plant, well placed, well cared for and, therefore, 
well rewarding the horticulturist. In addition to beauty of bloom 
and of coloring few plants have so exquisite a fragrance as prac¬ 
tically every variety of phlox. Moreover, there is no species of 
herbaceous plant — that is, of hardy flower — that will provide the 
garden with bloom over such a length of time as the varieties of 
phlox; and it is rarely the victim of attack by either insect or 
disease! What more could one ask of anything that grows? 
To be sure, a great deal has been done to make this plant as 
desirable as it now is: hybridizers have been at work with it for 
more than a hundred years, and the original forms found here in 
the wilds of North America were nothing to boast of, even though 
they were rich in promise. The two principal species from which 
the great race of present-day phloxes are descended, are Phlox 
paniculata and Phlox maculata, but others enter in here and there 
along the line. So, for convenience in referring to them gener¬ 
ally, the hybrids are dubbed Phlox decussata —which is a syn¬ 
onym for paniculata. 
To begin at the beginning, however, we should consider the 
early spring flowering species first. These are distinct from the 
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