Growing Variegated Garden Phlox

Welcome to the Member Ideas area! This community feature is where our members can post their own ideas. These posts are unedited and not necessarily endorsed by the National Gardening Association.
Posted by @4susiesjoy on
They are sometimes startling in the contrast between their leaves and flowers, but variegated cultivars of Phlox paniculata put on a bright and colorful display in the garden.

My first experience with them was a cultivar called Harlequin. I thought it was beautiful! It only lasted the year I bought it, and even then it didn't flourish. So I concluded that the variegated cultivars weren't very hardy and probably weren't worth the price.

Then I saw Goldmine,



and Rubymine.



I fell in love again and decided I would give them one more chance. The Goldmine lasted three years and was long blooming and beautiful, but the fourth year it came up poorly and didn't survive the spring. Rubymine lasted a year longer. As they were small inexpensive plants when I bought them, I felt the display they made was well worth their cost.

Then came Nora Leigh,


Becky Towe,




Frosted Elegance,

Thumb of 2014-03-29/4susiesjoy/879743

and last year, Shockwave

.

Nora Leigh and Frosted Elegance look almost identical and have been the longest lived, perhaps because both their variegation and the flowers are paler than the others.

Their soil, water, and sun requirements are the same as plain-leaved Phlox, although the leaves do tend to scorch more easily in the late summer heat and seem to do better with some afternoon shade. Just as most of the other varieties of phlox, these can have a problem with mildew. They occasionally will send up non-variegated stems, but I have always removed those stems, and the plants have maintained their variegation.

I have had difficulty finding them for sale. I finally found Becky Towe and Goldmine again a couple of summers ago. I'm still hoping to find Rubymine again as it was my favorite. If you have the opportunity to get one of these plants for your garden, I highly recommend it, but beware! You just might get hooked!


 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Phlox paniculata 'Becky Towe' by RavenCroft May 13, 2019 11:01 AM 2
Nora Leigh by Goalsgroup Aug 14, 2017 6:29 PM 0
Phlox paniculata 'Nora Leigh' by SunnyBorders Apr 23, 2014 9:26 AM 5

Explore More:

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )