The fibrous root system can be used for erosion control on slopes, but this plant is not too aggressive to live easily with larger plants, and it permits spring bulbs such as Daffodils and Tulips to rise up through its low foliage. It is easily edged and as it spreads on top of the soil it creates a beauitful matt of spring colour.
Thin needle like leaves make this plant rather drought tolerant, it cannot stand too much damp or wet. Phlox prefers moist, well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline pH soils in full sun, but is adaptable to thin soils, dry soils, sandy to gritty soils, and soils of acidic pH.
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The main disease problem of this species in hot and humid places is powdery mildew, which is more often noticed in early spring and during the summer. One solution to this problem is to cut back the stems to initiate new growth.
Phlox translates from the Greek as "a flame". Subulata translates as "awl-shaped", referring to the needle-like leaves that swell slightly at their base, like the awl foliage of some Junipers.
"There amid the tinted bowers,
Raptur'd with the opiate spell
Of the grasses, ferns & flowers,
Poppy, Phlox & Pimpernel,
Long I lay, entranc'd & dreaming,
Pleas'd with Nature's bounteous store,
Till I mark'd the shaded gleaming
Of the sky, & yearn'd for more."
- H.P. Lovecraft 1890-1937 |
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