Outdoor phlox care after planting
Caring for perennial phloxes will not burden the summer resident. Plants need watering, maintaining the cleanliness of the soil and feeding, which will help the phlox grow and bloom perfectly.
After planting phlox in the spring, weeding and loosening the soil must be included in caring for them in the open field. Otherwise, the weeds clog the seedlings, and the dense crust does not provide enough water and oxygen.
If it rains in summer, additional watering is not required. The dry months are a different matter. In this case, the bushes are watered regularly, abundantly, especially during flowering, trying not to get delicate petals. The best time to water perennial phlox is in the evening.
From the second half of summer, phloxes are often affected by powdery mildew - one of the most common diseases spread by harmful fungi. To protect phlox in the open field from disease, in care after landing include preventive and, if necessary, therapeutic treatment of bushes with fungicides.
Double spraying is carried out at the beginning and middle of summer. If this does not help, the bushes will have to be cut short and copiously treated with a liquid preparation containing copper.
Perennial phloxes tolerate winter well, but if there is not enough snow, they can freeze slightly. Therefore, in the fall, the aboveground part is cut off, and the bushes are covered with a thick layer of mulch or spruce branches.
Planting and leaving
This variety of phlox is propagated in various ways:
- dividing the bushes (possibly in spring and autumn months);
- cuttings with a heel;
- segments of stems (maximum until mid-August);
- cuttings from the root.
Can be planted with phlox and seeds. However, varietal qualities evaporate at the same time. Fresh loam is considered the best soil option. Soil moisture is necessary, but water stagnation is unacceptable. Experts recommend planting Anna Karenina in the last days of April and May.
The best soil for flowers is acidic. Freshly planted plants are systematically watered by hand and always with warm water. Spraying the foliage is a prerequisite for success. It is especially significant on hot days. Of course, this procedure is carried out only in the morning and in the evening.
The soil for planting is prepared in advance, several months in advance. The best landing option is a square grid. In it, a perennial culture can live and please land owners for 4-6 years in a row. For 1 sq. m watering consumes 15-20 liters of water
Important: watering should take place strictly at the root, and at the end of it, the soil is loosened, weeded and mulched
When frosts come, perennial phloxes are cut almost to the root. As winter approaches, they also need to be wrapped or moved to greenhouses without heating. Outside wintering is possible only in relatively mild climates. You can increase the success rate by placing a small amount of crystalline copper sulfate in the middle of the bush.
Varieties of phlox paniculata with photo
Breeders from different countries have bred a huge number of varieties of paniculate phlox. Let's take a look at some of the most popular ones.
With pink and red flowers
The following varieties have flowering in a red-pink range:
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Flamingo. Plant of medium height (up to 0.65 m) with pinkish-salmon wide large inflorescences. Flowers up to 4 cm in diameter have a dark crimson-red eye.
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Prince of Orange. Tall (0.8–0.9 m) spreading variety of foreign selection. Fluffy oval-conical inflorescences of bright orange-red flowers that do not burn out in the sun, 2.5-4 cm in diameter.
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Star fire. Very decorative plant up to 0.55-0.6 m high with purple shoots and dark green foliage of the same shade.Medium size smart and festive fiery red caps-inflorescences (flower size 3–3.5 cm).
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Florence. Strong, sturdy, slow growing (0.8–0.9 m) shrub with powerful thick stems. Beautiful harmonious inflorescences of bright orange-pink flowers with a diameter of about 4.3–4.5 cm with a crimson-carmine star and a small silvery highlight in the center.
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Selena. A fast growing compact (0.7–0.8 m) smoky variety with unusual flowers (4–4.3 cm in size) which can change color due to a silvery bloom on the petals. The inflorescence is in the form of a cone with protrusions. Dark pink flowers with a wide (half petal) snow-white star in the middle, bordered by a juicy pink edging.
With blue and purple flowers
The following varieties of phlox paniculata are distinguished by petals in a violet-blue range:
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Prospero. Slightly spreading bush, growing up to 0.8-1 m with not very large, loose, rounded inflorescences. A delicate lilac flower (4.2 cm in diameter) with a white star-radiant core.
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Amethyst. Tall (up to 1.2 m) variety with dense bluish-purple inflorescences. In the center of the flower, up to 4 cm in size, there is a lilac-pink spot.
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Blue Paradise. Dense, semi-spreading bush up to 0.8-1 m in height. Slightly wavy deep lilac with lightening and a thin dark purple ring in the center of chameleon flowers (diameter 3.7–4.2 cm) in the evening and in cloudy weather change color to a bright blue-blue.
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Mirage. Powerful, very fast growing phlox 0.7–0.75 m tall with rounded-conical inflorescences. Pale lilac flowers (4.5-4.7 cm in size) in the center and around the edges are dark purple with a purple tint.
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Blue joy. A dense bush, reaching a height of 0.8-0.9 m, with slightly tilting large pyramidal inflorescences. Bluish-purple, light, smoky flowers with a small dark center, 3.8-4.2 cm in size, turn blue at dusk and indoors.
Landing rules
A favorable time for planting is early spring. The flower bed must be prepared in advance, namely loosened and moistened. When choosing a place for planting, you should not consider areas where water stagnation is possible - high humidity is detrimental to the plant. It is best to choose a flower bed on a small hill, far from the flow of groundwater.
Try to avoid places near bushes and trees - with such a neighborhood, phloxes will constantly feel a lack of moisture and sun. Culture loves sunny spaces, but in hot hours it is better to hide it in partial shade.
At the first stage of planting, you should dig a planting hole of such a size that the seedling can fit there without any problems, along with an earthen lump. Fertilizers are placed in the pit, mixed with the soil and moistened. Before planting, it is recommended to soak the seedling in a growth stimulator for several hours. Before planting, you need to carefully smooth out the roots and place the planting material in the finished hole so that the top is 35 cm below ground level. The landing site is tamped and watered.
What you need to know about the reproduction of phlox
This plant is capable of multiplying in several ways. In addition to seeds, it can produce offspring by cuttings or division of the rhizome.
Reproduction of phlox by cuttings
Cuttings can be carried out year-round, as long as there is a stem-like part of the plant.
Both roots and stems and leaves are suitable for this process.
Important! If stem cuttings are selected, then it is better to take them during the period of bud formation. So the rooting process will go faster.
Cutting with leaves is best done in the first half of summer. For stem cuttings, strong stems are chosen, without signs of disease damage. Take only the part that did not have time to stiffen. Each handle should have two nodal parts. The lower leaves must be removed without touching the bud. The upper ones should be cut in half to reduce moisture loss.
Reproduction of paniculate phlox by dividing the rhizome
With this method, it is necessary to remove the bush from the ground. Divide it into separate parts, while choosing only strong rhizomes. Further, the roots must be divided into parts about 5 cm so that thin antennae of the roots remain at the lower end.
Further, for both breeding options, it is necessary:
- prepare a box with soil or a suitable area in an open area;
- plant cuttings or rhizomes in well-moistened soil, having previously made holes in it with a thick peg according to the 8 by 8 cm pattern;
- sprinkle with sand on top;
- moisten the top again;
- It is advisable to plant cuttings with roots in a separate container and only then plant them in open ground in the spring, when they take root well enough.
How to care?
The variety needs constant, moderate watering, eliminating moisture stagnation. With a lack of water, the leaves of the plant turn yellow, dry and begin to fall off starting from the bottom of the stem. Because of this, the bush slows down growth and blooms worse.
During irrigation, up to 15 liters of water are required per square meter of soil, in the heat it should be warm. It is advisable to avoid splashing on the above-ground part.
It is important to feed the plant in a timely manner, fertilization is required 4 times per season
In early spring, after the snow melts, the bushes are fertilized with organic matter - they mulch with humus, watered with liquid manure, and nitrogen-containing agents are added to the ground.
When buds appear, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen must be added. Then add wood ash, dissolved in water - 1 tbsp. l
12 liters.
During flowering, phloxes are fed with superphosphate (for one bush - 15 g of dry fertilizer).
It is important to use liquid mineral supplements after flowering. This will prepare the crop for winter by enriching the soil with nutrients.
In anticipation of the winter period, the paniculate variety must be cut off - in October, the old stems are cut, leaving about 10 cm in height.If wilted or dried inflorescences remain on the branches, they must also be removed. It is not necessary to cover the bushes for the winter.
The variety is resistant to fungal diseases such as rust, spotting, powdery mildew. Plant stem cracking can be caused by too acidic soil, excess nitrogen fertilization, or stagnant water at the roots.
For more information on this phlox, see the next video.
Peculiarities
Phlox in most cases are perennial plants, while rather tall, and this is their main difference with Drummond phlox. Agree, few people will like the impassable jungle in rockeries, alpine hills or curbs. Drummond's phlox can be the best option for well-groomed garden plots. The height of the bush does not exceed 45-50 cm, and the overwhelming majority of existing varietal variations grow only up to 30 cm.The size of the flowers is only 2 cm in diameter, but due to the fact that they are collected in large inflorescences, phloxes give the impression of blooming magnificently.
The flowering period usually lasts all summer and part of autumn; in warm weather, the plant pleases with its colors even in November. The shade range of different varieties can vary depending on the characteristic features of the variety. Most often it is white or purple, but there are plants with dark red flowering.
The phlox Drummond bush is usually branched, except for the inflorescences, it has clearly distinguished oval lanceolate leaf plates, located opposite.
Thanks to the wide variety of varieties, you can always choose the plants of the tone and height you need. For example, dwarf varieties with a height of 20-30 cm are optimal for carpeting of flower beds, and high phlox 40-50 cm long can create spectacular bright accents on flower beds as part of mixborders.
Drummond phloxes are highly resistant to sunlight. They do not fade in the sun, which means that even in the most illuminated places the plants will look healthy. Phloxes are not afraid of frosts down to -5 degrees.
