Phlox pilosa

PRAIRIE PHLOX

Phlox pilosa 
PRAIRIE PHLOX

Phlox pilosa is a handy and hardy groundcover, with flower stems just long enough to also make a pretty floristry flower.

Sweetly fragrant

Blooms are sweetly fragrant, and come in showy clustered heads.
Sitting jauntily up above a carpet of low, ground-covering foliage.

Showy range of colours

Flower colour will vary across your seedling plants.
So some will flower soft pink, some lavender, some rich rose – that variation from plant to plant is one of the many joys of raising from seed.

Hardy groundcover

Phlox pilosa makes an easy growing, low maintenance, no trouble to have groundcover.
It grows happily in either Full Sun or Part Shade positions; and is not fussy about soil types.
Prairie Phlox can deal with soils from sandy to clay; moist or dry; acid to neutral pH.

Prolific bloomers

Phlox pilosa plants are prolific bloomers over a long spring-early summer season.

Weed suppressing carpet 

Then the foliage remains as a very effective groundcover for the rest of the year, helping to keep the weeds at bay.
Your clump will steadily spread by close packed rhizomes, not giving the weeds a look-in.
But fear not – Phlox pilosa is gently spreading but not invasive.

Hardy in frost & dry

Prairie Phlox is well used to difficult going in its native prairie-lands.
So it cope with frosts and cold to below minus 25C; then high summer temperatures too; and periods of dry for good measure.

Water-wise & drought resistant

Phlox pilosa is therefore an excellent choice for water-wise Australian gardeners .

Low care

A feed with good quality fertilizer in early spring, and then again in summer will keep them in good heart, bossing out the weeds, and producing wonderful flower heads for a long period.

Rich in nectar for bees & birds

Nectar sipping native birds, bees and other important pollinating insects, just adore the flower heads of Phlox pilosa.

Some resistance to rabbits & deer

Prairie Phlox is not top favourite fodder for the horrible pests, though if they are desperate (or plain ornery) they may nibble.

Natural medicine from the prairies

The Meskwaki Indians brewed tea from the leaves to purify the blood, and to treat eczema.
Plus the roots were harvested for love potions.
Native to the prairies and rocky places in Texas, Florida and further west too.

Evergreen perennial mounding groundcover.
40-45cm. High in flower x 90cm. Wide mounding carpet of foliage

SEED SOWING ADVICE:

Phlox pilosa seed can be sown indoors in cooler months / or scattered directly in the garden in winter to let nature take it’s course. 

Sow indoors for quick & early flowers: First soak the seeds in warm water for 10-15  minutes.
Then sow the seeds in a punnet on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
And cover with a fine layer of sieved mix or vermiculite.

Now thoroughly moisten the mix by standing the sown punnet in a shallow water bath and allowing the moisture to percolate to the surface from below.

Then wrap the moist, sown punnet in cling-wrap or a plastic bag; and place in the fridge (not freezer) for 4-6 weeks.

After the period of chilling, remove from fridge, unwrap, and thoroughly moisten again.
Now place the punnet in a warm, well-lit position (not in direct sunlight).

Temperatures of 15-18°C are ideal for rapid and optimum germination.
You can use a heat mat if you have one, or a warm protected window sill.
However temperatures above 18°C can inhibit germination.

Continue to keep consistently moist by misting from a spray water-bottle.

Seeds germinate in approx. 7-14 days.

Seed Count: 8 seeds per pack approx.
We always aim to exceed the stated seed count and give a generous serve).

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