Phlox pilosa

mosswitch

13 years ago

Try the Missouri Wildflowers Nursery. I didn't check to see if they have it, but they sure have a good selection of Missouri Wildflowers. Their plants are great. http://www.mowildflowers.net/plants/plants.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Wildflowers Nursery

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

13 years ago

Thank you Mosswitch - I looked at their website and they have plants but not seed. I'll keep them in mind though. I think that's one of the places that sells plants at the Native Symposium that is held every year at the Nature Center in Springfield. I noticed you're from SW Missouri too. Did you know Gardenweb has a forum for Gardening in the Ozarks?

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I'm sure that most of the plants on your lists are great and have some wildlife value, Anna, but the ones that jump out at me are - Castillega indivisa/Indian paintbrush - I can only drool at pictures of this beautiful host for buckeyes and fulvia checkerspots since it doesn't occur here, but it's also a good nectar plant for butterflies, and, judging by the looks of the flowers, for hummingbirds, also. It's supposed to be impossible to transplant, but it can be propagated from seeds. If I lived in Oklahoma, I'd order seeds and sow them in a meadow with native grasses - most members of the snapdragon family are parasitic or partially so on grass roots. Centaurea americana - you already have plenty of this - I'd make sure it stays! Antennaria and Artemesia - Both these are host for American ladies, and, if they're as tough as the cudweed in my area, they should be easy to grow. Asclepias, spp. - All of these are desirable, both as hosts for monarchs and the nectar in their flowers, which are real popular with all butterflies. Asters - These give beautiful flowers in the fall that butterflies nectar on, and they're supposed to host pearl crescents. I've planted some rice button asters to add to the naturally occurring asters in hopes of getting PC cats someday. Desmodium - This is the principal host plant for long-tailed skippers in my area - it's VERY easy to grow! Liatris pycnostachya - I just love this beautiful plant, and butterflies love to nectar on the flowers. Tephrosia virginiana/Goat's rue - As far as I know, this plant doesn't host any butterfly, and I've never seen any butterflies or hummers nectaring on the flowers, but it thrives on the poorest, driest, most eroded, pure red/orange clay parts of my property. The rainbow of pastel colors of the flowers is charming, and it might be useful as a host or nectar plant to something - I don't get to the parts of my property where it grows too often. Sherry

group order sunshine farm and nursery

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OMG Marie - I don't want to be a downer, but did you read the negative feedback at Garden Watchdog? The most protracted rant came from a lady who did exactly what you are proposing and sounded like she wanted to go back in time and dope slap that very idea out of her own head by the end of her ordeal. That being said, I HAVE done a group order of Helebores on a smaller scale from SG and it was OK. There were only three of us - Dee, another swapper friend and I. The plants were nice enough, but small as should be expected. Nothing that has inspired me to order from him again, but I wouldn't totally rule it out. I get their emails and laugh at their pricing because whether it is something exotic-ish or as common as Garlic chives he seems to charge the same two pricing structures for everything and presents it with the same huckster patter. Of course he also has some good growing information to impart also. He must really be a character in person.

Extreme Climate Winter Sowing......the HOT zones: 8, 9, and 10 (nati

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For experts in cold-stratification -- native seeds.

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I do check with Clothier's data on seed germination, it is helpful. A method that I came up with myself and use for germinating seed of prairie wiildflowers and grasses is to cover the seed once it is sown with a coarser perlite rather than a peat based germ mix which seems to smother the seed. This method is used for seed that requires a covering, some seeds need to remain uncovered and exposed to light for germination. I found that Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed) doesn't germinate at all when lightly covered with a peat based media - I got a few to germ that were left uncovered but I get high germ when the seed is lightly and evenly covered with perlite after it is sown. This tells me that prairie species need more gas exchange or exposure to the air while at the same time being covered so the seed is protected and does not dry out. I wouldn't worry too much about your seed germinating early in the fridge, I have Dictamnus albus and eryngium sprouting now in the seed trays that are in my refrigerator - the mice kept getting them in my garage - the cold temps will keep them from growing much and they will be taken out of the fridge in late March or early April to go out into a cold greenhouse to continue growing. Keep in mind that seed that requires stratification for germination can not be hurried along with warm temps! We aren't growing marigolds or petunias here. If you see no activity after you might expect to see signs of life, keep the seed colder longer rather than warming them up - most seeds will start to sprout while still chilled and germ best while at cool temperatures. Again, good luck! I wanted to add that some varieties that require stratification do only start to 'wake up' and grow once the temps warm up, like morz8 said - but not too warm - temps in the low 60's are better than say mid 70 or 80 degrees. Try to avoid quick extremes and no need for additives like wood ash or innoculants for germination - I've never used GA-3 myself and don't really see a need for it. There is no secret incantation or method that will make this process go much faster, it is one of those things that takes time. 'Tricky' things - violet species for example - germinate for me better when they are placed in a coldframe outside because the rain and snow are washing out the germination inhibitors that keep the seed from growing at the wrong time. That is my educated guess. I remember that when I grew Callirhoe involucrata from seed the germination was very erratic, seedlings slowly germinating in an outdoor seed bed for more than three years! This post was edited by jebfarm on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 13:58

lycopus

13 years ago

I haven't grown this species but have seen it growing wild. It grows in really dry, sandy soil along Lake Michigan in Northern IL/Southeast WI. There the usual color is pink and I never noticed that they were fragrant but perhaps they are. Some good complementary plants are Lupinus perennis, Liatris aspera, and Tradescantia ohiensis which all bloom around the same time.

mosswitch

13 years ago

Christie that is the same nursery. I found them at Buffalo Days at Prairie State Park a few years ago, and have been ordering from them since. And yes, I found the Gardening in the Ozarks forum recently, thank you.

Sandy

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

13 years ago

Sandy - I'd never heard of Prairie State Park and looked up some info on it online. That would be a nice place to visit and not too far away for us.
Thank you Lycopus - That makes me wonder if they're picky about drainage. Everwilde Farms has a distribution map for phlox pilosa and it shows that it grows pretty far south so I should be able to grow it here I assume. Everwilde has seeds but they're in northern Wisconsin. I wonder if I need to look for a more southern source.

Here is a link that might be useful: Everwilde Farms - phlox pilosa

terrene

13 years ago

I was reading about this species recently and want to grow it - sounds like it has greater drought tolerance than most Phloxes. I love the color variation shown on the Prairie Moon website, but especially the lavender and light pink. Got to buy that this coming year and hope that all the seedlings aren't the usual pink color.

river_crossroads z8b Central Louisiana

13 years ago

Hi Christie,

I googled into The Prairie Flower nursery in northwest Iowa that has seeds. Is that too far away to interest you? However theirs have the same color range as Prairie Moon whereas it sounds like you might prefer solid pink, & Everwilde gives a lot more seeds per package.

Question: I've found a dealer in my state who is tempting me with plants (which I prefer). However I'm concerned that P. pilosa will need more water than the echinacea purpurea that it would have to be planted close to & I'd kill my coneflowers with water. For prairie phlox Everwilde says "Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry" & lycopus talks about seeing it in dry, sandy soil. But there are so many different degrees of dry. Can you, or anyone else, tell me if native prairie phlox & native coneflower can be grown together? Would phlox be finishing its bloom just as coneflower flowers? Thanks so much!

Here are links that might be useful:
Prairie Flower nursery
Dealer in my state who's tempting me

mosswitch

13 years ago

They both grow in moist to dry soil, sun to light shade, open woods, average soil. I see no reason why they should not be grown together.

river_crossroads z8b Central Louisiana

13 years ago

Thanks so much, mosswitch. I appreciate your help.

ontnative

13 years ago

I started some seeds from Prairie Moon in late winter and have little seedlings to plant out this month. I had been looking for this species for a long time, mainly because of its drought tolerance, so am excitedly looking forward to seeing my plants bloom next year.

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

13 years ago

I just noticed your reply Ontnative. Was it easy to start from seed?
I'm still undecided on where to order seeds from if anyone has come across other sources.

wantonamara Z8 CenTex

13 years ago

I grow this in Central Texas. It is a thriver and a spreader. Mine is lavender and I never water it. It does need a bit of afternoon shade down here, but other than that, I do not expend any energy caring for it. We are very dry down here and it doesn't care.

hemnancy

13 years ago

Alplains has it.

Phlox pilosa ssp. riparia (8x20,Z7,P,L,3:8w) ..... 15 seeds / $5.00

70594.17 (W) Kerr Co., TX, 2200ft, 671m. The dwarfest among the Phlox pilosa clan. Bright, deep-pink flowers over hairy, glandular foliage. Photo

They are in Colorado. I haven't ordered from them yet but am about to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alplains

wantonamara Z8 CenTex

13 years ago

15 seeds for $5!! highway robbery. But then it grows wild in my garden and comes up all over the place. High Country Garden carries plants of it.

ontnative

13 years ago

christie_sw_mo
I wintersowed my phlox pilosa seeds (from Prairie Moon) and they were fairly easy to grow. So far I've only ordered from PM once, but found them to be really efficient and pleasant to deal with. I would order from them again. I had been looking for Prairie Phlox seeds/plants for several years, mainly due to their drought tolerance, and the fact that they were recommended by many native gardening books/articles. They are not native to my specific area, but are closely related to our native Phlox Divaricata (woodland phlox), which I have been growing for some years.

river_crossroads z8b Central Louisiana

13 years ago

Christie, are you still around? Did you see dandy_line's post with 50 phlox pilosa seeds to trade? Don't know if still available but could be.

Here's a link that might be helpful: Looking for wildflower seed trades

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

13 years ago

I'm still around. : ) I'd already gotten seeds (from Everwilde) when I saw them on Dandy_line's list. I have to admit I was tempted to ask for them anyway. If I didn't have so much to plant already this spring, I'd try both and compare. I think it would be interesting to plant seeds from different sources on this one.

Alplains says their variety is short and I think I'd rather have a taller variety. Butterflies tend to go to taller plants and they would show up better for me. $5 for fifteen seeds is expensive but still cheaper than buying plants so you shouldn't feel guilty for paying that if it's what you want Hemnancy. Sounds like it's a selected variety and may be worth it.

Wantonamara and Ontnative - Thanks for your replies. It's helpful to know that p. pilosa is drought tolerant. I will try planting it in different spots to see where it's happiest. It might like being in reach of some greedy shrub or tree roots.

I LOVE phlox divaricata. Not many plants survive in my dry shade but that one does. Mine has reseeded a bit and some are more fragrant than others. My original plant came from a trader so I don't know if it was from a cultivar or just a native plant.

hemnancy

11 years ago

Christie- I'm curious, how did you do with growing the seeds you had ordered? Did they grow, and were you able to get any flowers yet? I'm thinking of ordering some this year.

Nancy

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

11 years ago

Hi Nancy - I got low germination, although likely because of my own neglect. I think I ended up transplanting three or four into my flower bed and may have had one still alive by the end of the season. We had a horribly hot dry summer and I had a tough time keeping everything watered. It wasn't a good year for little seedlings. None of them grew big enough to bloom and I doubt they'll come up in the spring, so try try again I guess.

I bought a little pot of phlox pilosa and one of phlox glaberrima from a nursery and the p. pilosa only bloomed for a little while after I planted it. The p. glaberimma bloomed for 3 months or more though. Both were just a common pinkish purple phlox color. Nothing special but should have an earlier bloom time than phlox paniculata.

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

11 years ago

Just correcting my spelling in case someone tries to look it up. It's phlox glaberrima not glaberimma. I knew there was a double letter somewhere. : )

Phlox pilosa

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