It has flower buds on it too, so it will bloom soon.
This one will be planted in memory of my son. His eyes were the same color. I've been looking for just the right blue perennial flower and am so thrilled to finally find it.

Below is the LINK to White Flower Farms so you can see it.

~Annie

MeMo

I have several colors of Garden Phlox and would love to send you starts if you would like them.

I have:
* David (White)
* Nicky (Deep Pinkish Violet with purple & green leaves)
* Pinky (Hot Pink)
* Fannick (Two tones of pink) - I got starts from plantmaven
* Purple Garden Phlox (old-time garden phlox -I brought with me from Louisiana in 1980)

and now...
* Blue Paradise (for my Charlie)

They are my favorite summer flower and my gardens would be empty without them. All are very, very fragrant and are Butterfly/Hummingbird magnets. Likes full sun, drought tolerant, and they multiply nicely, so you can spread them around throughout the garden or share them.

The white David doesn't reproduce as much for me as the others, but I will be able to get you one going.
To prevent powdery mildew, make sure they are in full sun and have air circulation around them. They will grow in shade or part-shade, but the stems tend to get long and weak, so they flop over. Also, the flowers are much smaller. Best planted in full sun and watered around their feet on the ground. Mulch helps with the P. Mildew problem too. Most of these are super resistant to P. Mildew. They never get it.
Flowers bloom all summer long.

If you want all or any of these, just say the word and they are yours.

Your friend,
~Annie

MeMo

I have several colors of Garden Phlox and would love to send you starts if you would like them.

I have:
* David (White)
* Nicky (Deep Pinkish Violet with purple & green leaves)
* Pinky (Hot Pink)
* Fannick (Two tones of pink) - I got starts from plantmaven
* Purple Garden Phlox (old-time garden phlox -I brought with me from Louisiana in 1980)

and now...
* Blue Paradise (for my Charlie)

They are my favorite summer flower and my gardens would be empty without them. All are very, very fragrant and are Butterfly/Hummingbird magnets. Likes full sun, drought tolerant, and they multiply nicely, so you can spread them around throughout the garden or share them.

The white David doesn't reproduce as much for me as the others, but I will be able to get you one going.
To prevent powdery mildew, make sure they are in full sun and have air circulation around them. They will grow in shade or part-shade, but the stems tend to get long and weak, so they flop over. Also, the flowers are much smaller. Best planted in full sun and watered around their feet on the ground. Mulch helps with the P. Mildew problem too. Most of these are super resistant to P. Mildew. They never get it.
Flowers bloom all summer long.

If you want all or any of these, just say the word and they are yours.

Your friend,
~Annie

hehehe

I think this phlox will be like that photo because the buds on it are. That is what caught my eye. It was the only one blue. It was sitting on a rack surrounded by pots of Nicky.
It is about 18" tall in a gallon pot and has deep blue buds on the top. There are two main stems that are very sturdy.
Nicky is such a vibrant magenta color that it glows. I divided it this year and the divisions are going bonkers, but the mother plant is doing the same. I think I will move it from its location. That obviously is the problem.

Same thing with my David. I divided it and planted each division in three new locations. Two are growing like crazy - tall and lush and spreading out, but the third one has not grown much at all. Location makes a difference!

BTW, come to think of it, that white phlox I have now is not David. My Phlox, David didn't make it. I had forgotten that until just now. This one I bought after the David kicked it. I have all my phlox tags in one of the seed boxes. I'll have to look at it and see what the this one is called.

I had a Red Starfure once, but it never made it to bloom. Bad drought year. I also have twice planted the Orange Perfection, but it never even got going. I hope to find a good, healthy pot of each someday.

I have two colors (no name) of the Creeping Phlox. They were originally native plants of the Pacific Northwestern states, but have been cultivated and bred to come in many colors now.

Once I get Blue Paradise going, I can send you a start too, GGG. Probably be next year though. So if you can't find one, I can send some to you too. I think I still have your mailing address.

~Annie

jody

My David finally disappeared but was good while I had it.

I have let mine get too thick and some have mixed and seeded so now I can't really say what is what. I do get mildew on lots of them. I was supposed to move and thin this year but didn't. They are my daughter's favorite garden flower. I should do a better job of caring for them.

I want to see all of yours when they bloom. Please.

glenda

Lisa

Nancy.

That "wilty, yellow and die". sounds like one of several possibilities:

* Too much water (they like soil that is rich but drains well)

* Not enough air circulation (you have to divide them every two to three years or they get crowded and die out.

* Or they are getting disease from being too wet or too crowded,

* OR they are too dry.

* OR a combination of any of these.

Phlox are like any other perennial - Divide and conquer!
Good soil - good plants. (this one is the hardest one to achieve, but THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL to work towards in the garden. Instead of spending more money buying new plants, invest that money in improving your soil. That is the hardest thing to do, but the rewards are so worth it and will save you money and a lot of hard work in the long run.

The correct nutrients and water for that particular plant.

Any of these needs not being met will result in the demise of plants, and that includes all plants.

Hope this helps, Sweetie.

~Annie

Blue Paradise isn't a true blue. It is a blue violet. Beautiful, but not a true blue like my Charlie's eyes were. Plumbago is actually the exact color of his eyes, but it isn't hardy here so I have to buy new plants every year. It is just beautiful in with Tropical Hibiscus. But, I wanted something that would come back every year. Oh, well, it is different from the others and I know it will be a beautiful addition to the garden.

I planted Blue Paradise in with the new Coreopsis by the rose garden arbor. There is a clump of golden-orange Oriental lilies in front of it, so the colors are very pretty together. Blue and Gold, like the Cub Scouts or Donald Duck! :)

I've been topping all the iris leaves in the rose garden and it looks so much better. When they finish blooming, I cut them into fans and it always looks good. Makes it easier when it comes time to divide them too. Now I can see all the roses, phlox, coneflowers, daylilies & gladiolas that will soon be blooming. I love lots of colors in my gardens.

This Blue Paradise is a welcome color. Blues of any hue are not as common in my summer garden. I'm happy with it.

~Annie

Thanks for your help, and I'm glad you're enjoying your new phlox!

Lisa

Right now I have Laura, a magenta phlox with a white eye; it is shorter, and has never gotten any mildew. Looks nice with centaurea montana, if I can get it to rebloom. I like magenta and blue flowers together.

Also, I have a bed with couple of orange coneflowers (Sundown and Summer Sky) and a couple of orange yarrows (Fireland and Apricot Delight)and a peach colored daylily. Maybe this is where Blue Paradise should go?

Oh, if all of life's problems were like these!

Hugs to you (((annie))), my husband has those blue eyes too, like a swimming pool blue, the same color as plumbago! Maybe you could overwinter some in the garage, or close to the house since they're only one zone away from being hardy for you.

If you don't have any, I'd be happy to mail you some. It's a wonderful, tough as nails spring-blooming shade plant.

I would LOVE some Brunnera! I looked it up on the web and it is perfect. The "Siberian" in its name told me that it could winter over for me here, too.
I have plenty of shade & part-shade now that my trees are getting bigger, thank God.
Thank you Sweetie.

How ironic that you posted that and brought this topic back up. I was just looking at old pictures of my Charlie last night. God, I miss my boy. It's been ten years, but it still hurts like it was yesterday. You never get over losing a child. Never ever.

Below is a link to the Memorial to my Charlie. It is on my Family History website.

You are welcome to tour it if you wish. (Some of you are related to me and others probably are too.) PLEASE Sign my Guestbook if you do.

~Annie

Your tribute page to Charlie is so touching. I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you for going to view Charlie's Memorial page and you kind condolences. He was my gardening buddy and everything else companion. We did almost everything together.

As to the Garden Phlox:
The first year they put down roots and a good base. They are perennials after all. So don't expect anything too spectacular the first year. But the second year - watch out!
You will be in for a treat. Both your eyes and nose will be happy you planted them. Just one sniff and they cause me to break into a smile. I can't help myself.
Fannick Phlox

They bloom continuously through the summer and are still blooming here well into October. In fact, they love hot days and cool nights. In October, my flowers all give it their last hurrah for the year and everything is in bloom. May and October are my gardens two best months. Warm days and cool moist nights - all my flowers love that combination.

Although Phlox are "drought tolerant" they do suffer from lack of water (or too much water). Just make sure you water them from the bottom when you do so you don't introduce Powdery Mildew from the soil splashing up on them. City water or even rural treated water can burn their leaves - it's the chlorine. So soak their roots down deep and thoroughly once in awhile. Allow them to dry out in between waterings. When it is hot out, water in the mornings only so they will not be damp at night. This introduces fungus and mildew as well.

Phlox, Nicky

I never fertilize mine. You can add a little compost around their base if you wish, about three or four times during the summer, depending upon the quality of your soil. But honestly, I have them doing just fine on their own in the farthest reaches of my property without any help from me other than watering them when we don't get any rain.

The Butterflies love them. And you cannot beat their fragrance. It fills the air in my garden. It is pure D Yummy! (D = Delicious. That was what Charlie said about their fragrance (hahaha). Combine them with fragrant roses and you will think you are in the Garden of Eden.

Phlox paniculata davidii 'David'

I would say Garden Phlox are the backbone flowers in my gardens. I have more of them than any other flower. They are especially lovely with roses and daylilies and oh, yes, Coneflowers. I love fragrance and colors in my garden, and therefore those four are my "mainest" flowers I grow.

Old-Fashioned Purple Garden Phlox
Best wishes in growing them.
~Annie

Here are the Blue Harebells I got from GG that are growing behind it to compare the blues. You can see the difference right off. The Harebells have a slight lavender hint to their color and yet they look a lot bluer than the phlox.

Maybe it will be more blue next year. My Fannick Phlox had more color to it the second year.

Still, it is a pretty phlox and I LOVE phlox-es!
We shall see.
~Annie

On a less silly note: my six-year old son is my garden helper, so my heart just breaks for you and your loss. *Hugs*

My Phlox are really busting all of a sudden. They do that. You wonder if they will ever bloom...and then POP! your garden is filled with color and fragrance overnight it seems.
I am cutting a big bouquet of them to take to the cemetery this weekend. They won't last in this extreme heat, I know, but Charlie will love them and appreciate them for however long they last...and that is "the mainest thing", as he always used to say. The Tiger Lilies are budded and when they bloom, I will take him a big bouquet of them. I grow them just for him. I wish we had water out at the cemetery. I would plant his favorite flowers around his grave site so he would have them growing nearby. I think eventually there will be water out there. They paved that country road and it is building up out that way now, so it is only a matter of time that we will be able to get a water meter put in. Maybe since it is a cemetery, they will give me a discount on the rates. That would be great. (Ooops! Sorry for that side-step from the topic). I'm a blubberbox.

Best wishes to you and your little buddy in your garden. Cherish every moment together and live life to the fullest.

~Annie

I had delphinium in my previous garden with the same blue.

Anicee

Barbara in Virginia

Learned web design from the ground up. I was a complete Dummy about computers when I started posting my research, but was determined to learn and I did. The HTML code was hard at first, but after awhile, it was fun.
My website is so out of date! Gads! My computer crashed, twice, and I cannot find the tools I need to get it up to date and fix things. I need to redo my Guest Book - somehow it is getting a lot of spamming. Doesn't appear to be contagious - just annoying as heck! I wish RootsWeb, my host, would fix things so that couldn't happen or fix it for me, but they leave it all to me. Not sure how to clean up a website. Hmmm...But, I can't complain about them. They gave me that site for free years ago, and it's still free. I can use as much graphics and space as I want.

Thanks everyone for your kind and loving comments about my son and my site. Much appreciated.

~Annie

Thank you!