Plant cottage garden classic Fantastic phlox

From billowy border types to ground-hugging shade lovers, there’s more to this plant group than you may think. Louise Curley explores options for different garden situations

- Louise Curley

WITH its tall stems and billowing blooms, phlox has become synonymous with the classic English cottage garden look. The flowers were a particular favourite of plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll, who used them in her Arts and Crafts garden designs, where their pretty domed heads – in white and a range of pinks and purples, some with scent – would create a soft, romantic feel.

The phlox most commonly grown in British gardens are known as border phlox (P. paniculata), but they belong to a diverse genus and there are plenty of others that are perfect for different situations. Some are ideal for rock gardens; there are phlox that will thrive in shade and others that grow happily in pots, and both the annual and border phloxes make good cut flowers.

Most are native to North America, where the different species have adapted to live in a range of habitats, including alpine tundra, open woodland and prairie grassland, with some flowering in spring and others in summer. The majority are hardy herbaceous perennials, but Phlox drummondii is a half-hardy annual that can be easily grown from seed. It has a spreading, tumbling habit that makes it a good choice for containers or for filling gaps at the front of a border.

The woodland phlox (P. divaricata) is shorter than border phloxes and forms a carpet of bright green foliage, above which a mass of blooms appear in spring. It thrives in dappled shade and a humusrich soil, whereas the alpine phlox (P. subulata) is a ground-hugging perennial that needs full sun and well-drained soil.

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