There are four or five species of creeping phlox but with the exception of P. stolonifera, all would prefer being in sun. For best results, these need a freely draining, fertile soil and sufficient water to become established. After the plants are established, watering in only the driest periods is generally necessary.

Yes, you can cut or break the flat into chunks - I'd be a bit generous with each and keep them to at least a 3"x3" section or slightly larger. For the best look, plant them in groupings about 6-8" apart. They will spread and blend into each other to form a large mat. Phlox stolonifera is a pretty hardy perennial groundcover - it is native to much of the eastern US and should be good to zones 3 or 4.

Here is a link that might be useful: phlox stolonifera

Gardengal, What a godsend you are! Thanks so much for your great help! I thought I would have to leave the flat out on umbrellaed table waiting a response for weeks!

Also, looks like I lucked out and got a great deal for lots of shade perennials if these can be cut to smaller pieces and creep. Indeed your link for P. stolonifera, which you say is the only one that truly likes shade, is the spitting image of the plants in the flat.

I'm very excited. To purchase a full grown shade perennial in my area runs $10-12 each and each of these flats should give me at least 12-24 pieces to plant. What a great deal!

Living in pure clay and being organic garderners, we're used to digging out clay and making typical woodland soil...(1 part clay/1 part top soil/1 part sand/2 parts OM like peatmoss, manure, leafgro, etc.) so we have tons of this around. These will do well in a moist acid soil or should the mix be less rich with more sand? (It would be refreshing to have shade plants that don't need the moist woodland mix and watering.)

The colors compliment our azaleas and I was planning on growing them under them near a sidewalk. I could also plant them in deeper shade with shade perenials under an amended maple tree. What do you think?

Will the flowers bloom all summer and what do the plants look like in winter? Will they creep onto the sidewalk and do they creep quickly? Can you step on them without doing serious injury?

Thanks again. I am excited!