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beejayduw

Creeping Phlox

beejayduw
20 years ago

My husband loves creeping phlox. We bought a flat and don't really know where they will grow best. Do they want lots of sun and how about moisture?

Comments (20)

  • christie_sw_mo
    20 years ago

    There are different kinds of creeping phlox (I think) but the most common kind likes sun. I have some that's doing well in full sun from early morning until late evening. I also have some on the west side of a retaining wall so it's getting lots of sun too. It seems pretty drought tolerant after it's established but you will need to keep it watered this summer and next summer too.
    There was a post about creeping phlox in the perennials forum but it got too old and isn't there anymore. I can go to it through google if I click on cached and have it linked below. Clicking on cache highlights the search words so that is why you will see those purty colors.
    Welcome to the Ozarks forum! I replied to your post in the shade garden forum but wasn't sure you'd see it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Creeping phlox

  • pauln
    20 years ago

    I have had great success with creeping phlox. I have mostly blue and white. They like full sun and loose soil. They look stunning tumbling over a wall. They will spread where the stems touch soil. If you have any luck, you can divide and conquer! Sometimes a really cold winter will kill it out. This has only happened to me with young transplants. They pair well with grey santolina, and also small bulbs like grape hyacinth. Good luck!

  • gailozarks
    20 years ago

    Well, I have white creeping phlox in a filtered shade bed. This bed slopes on one side and I wanted it to fill in on the slope and it's doing just that. Planted it last year and it looked so lovey this Spring. It is doing wonderful. This spring I added some pink in with it.

  • jaceysgranny
    20 years ago

    I had some pink in a very dry sunny bed under pines. It didn't thrive but did live for about 7 or 8 years. This year I decided to move some of it to a bank and it's done much better. It's still in full sun but the soil is not as packed and dry. Now I've bought some blue and some red also. So far, so good in this hot blazing sun it's still alive.

    Nancy

  • lovesblooms
    20 years ago

    This is an old thread, but maybe someone can help... I couldn't find any other links on phlox so far, so I figured to ask here, even though I'm in Maryland.
    I planted about six creeping phlox last year, just little four-inch wide ones, pink and purple in-- I think midsummer last year, good spacing. They spread all the way through to the fall, and they're now from 6-7" to 12" wide. When I bought them and planted them, I picked the dying flowers off, but no new ones grew back! It was just a matted green mess! I love the look of them in bloom, and that dream is the only thing keeping me from yanking them this spring. They're in full sun, but maybe I did water them a little too much because I was concerned that they weren't blooming.
    The foliage is brown on top now, and I figure that's natural, after winter. I cut some of the brown off on one of them, but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. Please tell me they'll grow back-- and bloom!-- this spring!
    TIA
    Tash

  • Cain
    20 years ago

    I don't have much experience with creeping phlox, but I did buy a couple of 4 inch containers about a year and a half ago when a local nursery was going out of business. I planted mine in early fall in 2002. Over the winter, it looked just as you described - brown on top - and bloomed beautifully last spring. I assume you'll be fine.

  • furrykidmom
    19 years ago

    I just did an entire hillside with creeping phlox. It is probably a 10 by 10 area give or take. I just put a rose garden in there last week and have surrounded the roses with the phlox. I put in about 50 half flats. I was not sure what was the best way to put them in. I wanted to keep them dense in an attempt to keep some of the weeds whose roots broke while weeding the area at bay. So I loosened the area, put down three in one compost and mixed it with Miracle grow potting soil and some sand. I placed the plants as it came in the flat on top of this loose mix. Then I took more potting soil and surrounded the edges as if it had been planted. I am praying that it takes root this way. It is going to be an expensive experiment if it does not work.

    My neighbor has a rock garden full of phlox and it is just gorgeous every spring. I hope that mine is the same. I get to admire hers from my deck and hopefully she can admire mine from her deck. We have a much better view of her flower beds from our yard than they do. We are trying to return the favor. Wish me luck and I am open to any advice. Darwin's theory exists here.

  • helenh
    19 years ago

    Creeping phlox does pretty well in a container. It likes good drainage. I had some in a calf bucket that pretty much took care of itself with a little water in summer. It is easy to start this time of year from little pieces, but you have to keep the weeds out or it will get smothered.

  • Millie_36
    19 years ago

    I have been watching a new bed of creeping phlox along the road I travel. Can't tell for sure, but looks like the people have used something on the soil to keep down grass or weeds, but it is spreading really well. Maybe it is fine chopped straw...can't tell.

    I was given some that had crawled out of it's bed onto parking lot gravel. Seems like a pretty tough little plant to me. I have seen it used to control roadside banks around here. Individual plants must spread 12 to 18 inches from center. Suspect that depends on the soil quality.

    I have propagated it just after blooming from cuttings dipped in rooting hormone and stuck in sand...keep in shade and spray a couple of times per day. Might do better under fog. I have seem most in full sun, but also know where there is some growing in light shade. I do think the common blue one is the easiest to grow.

  • MarlaZ
    19 years ago

    My husband's creeping phlox bed is over 5 or 6 years old. It's in full sun. We have bought new phlox to fill in some areas that had other plants that we pulled out. All the new stuff and most of the old stuff is green and blooming very nicely. Usually the whole bed is pink and green.

    This year there are a few spots - mostly in the middle of the beds - that the stems haven't turned green and are not flowering. If I lift them up however, there is green and pink underneath.

    Is it too old to come back? Should I cut the brown off?

    Should I pull it out and hope the other stuff fills in?

    Will it eventually turn green?

    I don't know what to do with it. Thanks for any help.

  • Roy_L
    19 years ago

    I found this very helpful link describing many different types of Phlox, and how to care for each.
    http://www.bergmannurseries.com/Phlox.htm

  • enchantedplace
    19 years ago

    {{gwi:1115154}}
    Our creeping phlox has survived for well over 15 years. It prefers full sun and especially appreciates organic well drained soil and adequate but not excessive moisture. After blooming , if sheared back, it might provide scant repeat bloom. Our neighbors have it over a curb in filtered shade which is doing as well as ours. EP

  • christy2007
    17 years ago

    I have 2 creeping phlox i need to know, if i plant them in my flower beds will they kill my other small plants.

  • oakleif
    17 years ago

    I have several colors of creeping phlox and last year bought quite a bit more as i found out during our 3yr drought and my neglect due to illness the phlox thrived. I've got it started here there and everywhere. It's done well in full sun,morning sun and semi shade.I've got it cascading off raised rock border, around rose bushes,daylilies,tulips, my hyacinths come up through it. Thats the only thing its overtaken. It's easy to dig up sprigs that get in the way and plant somewhere else. It's all in well drained soil except the sprigs that creep onto my paths.
    vickie

  • peaceofmind
    17 years ago

    I had to take out some phlox from around my front steps after the area became too shady. Some of it must have fell in the driveway chat as it is blooming there this year. It wasn't in a place where cars drove over it but it took plenty of foot traffic. Sure hope I don't kill it when I move it to a safer place. LOL
    Anise

  • christie_sw_mo
    17 years ago

    Christy - I think you need to allow at least a two foot circle for each creeping phlox to spread out. It makes a fairly thick mat of foliage that's evergreen so if you plant something underneath it that dies back to the ground in the winter, it might get smothered. It does a good job of keeping weeds out for me if that's any indication of how tough it is. It doesn't keep spreading forever though, so if you give it enough room, it might be ok.

  • vcox53_aol_com
    13 years ago

    I bought a Intensia Cabernet Phlox Hybrid to plant in some beds because it is perennial. It does not say that it is a creeping phlox are not. How do I know. I did not want it to cover the bed because I plant annuals during the year.

  • christie_sw_mo
    13 years ago

    What zone are you in Vickie? The link below says Intensia Cabernet is an annual except for zones 10 and 11.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Intensia Cabernet Phlox

  • jspaints1_hotmail_com
    13 years ago

    I just bought 12 Creeping Phlox from Lowe's and planted them on a small mound in sandy/clay/great drainage and years of mulch mixed in the bed making great soil to plant in. The plants will be in full sun, morning to night location. I hope I will have better luck this year. I also planted in between them is "Stock" annual white flowers, so there will be some color in there when the phlox stops blooming...

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