Phlox After Blooming

Phlox has always sounded such a funny name to me like a group of sheep but it is a plant which offers far more colour and is a darned sight easier to look after.

Phlox after blooming.

Trim out the old flower heads once most of the blossoms on the cluster have wilted immediately after blooming. Periodically after each flower finishes blooming known as deadheading and once after frost. Learn more about how to grow and care for your phlox. Some gardeners deadhead phlox flowers to confine the spread of the plant.

After the blooming period you can shear back the foliage to create a neater form. Treat any problems found with your phlox immediately to protect your plant s blooming season. Removing phlox flowers that are spent has this benefit and a few others as well. Since phlox is a perennial the resulting seedlings can become weedy and often do not bloom.

Phlox are perennials and a favorite choice from ground cover blooming in early spring to the tall phlox blooming in mid to late summer. Tall phlox varieties produce their flowers in clusters atop long stems for a period of six weeks in early to midsummer. Feeding either with a good compost or a commercial fertilizer is also important to their success. Deadheading phlox blooms will prevent much of that reseeding.

Creeping phlox phlox subulata is a stunning low growing perennial that creates a striking carpet full of 5 petaled blooms in radiant hues of reds purples blues pinks and whites in late april and may typically reaching a mere height of 6 inches but often spreading to 2 feet it is a great choice for a groundcover. Phlox needs to be cut back twice in the growing season. This also has the effect of making the foliage denser which can enhance the plants beauty as a ground cover for the summer months. Alternatively you can skip the pruning and let the plants grow naturally.

Commercial pesticides and fungicides can be sprayed or dusted on the phlox. Phlox doesn t normally require pruning but if you want to delay blooming and get bushier plants with more flower heads pinch or cut back the stems by one third to one half in early summer. Phlox enjoy having constantly moist roots but dry foliage. To 1 m tall.

These plants sport many star shaped colorful flowers when in bloom. This variety of phlox will set seeds which produce seedlings that rarely resemble the parent plant. Cutting back phlox requires different techniques for these different times with more aggressive trimming needed in early winter and careful removal of spend flowers during the summer. However this eccentric plant can require some specific pruning.

Garden phlox phlox paniculata also called summer phlox is a sun loving perennial with a long flowering season.