Wildflower Hill of Phlox and a Few Other Wildings

Wildflowers in the garden are still beautifying the area. I marvel each day when I spot something new blooming. Spiderworts have a been a favorite in my garden lately. Their sweet little flowers are so petite and perfect, but you must enjoy the flowers in the morning for by the afternoon they will all be gone.

Phlox is a flower that is long lasting tho. Our Wildflower Hill is covered in phlox and it is such an amazing sight I had to share. The pictures do not really do the hill justice I'm sorry to say. The big leaved plant in the center of the above picture is American Columbo. It is a native wildflower and this particular one is about to bloom. The property will be loaded with these blooms soon and it is quite a sight to see these tall wildflowers in bloom. Once their bloom is over the plants will die for they are monocarps; bloom once and then die.

Another shot of the phlox. Once we cleared this hill of all the tree saplings and cleaned it up the sun was really able to reach the ground. This has surely caused so many more wildflowers to pop out. Each month it is a different view. This entire month and part of last month we have been loaded down with phlox. The phlox is such a sight as are all the pollinators it attracts. Butterflies flit to and fro all among these flowers.

The hill is about 800 feet long but I mow a portion so the wildflowers end up being in an area bout 600 feet long and 300 feet wide. The hill slopes at a rather steep angle down to our little path and a small seasonal stream. Mr. Fix-it and I always had the goal of making this property a wildlife habitat and this hill is integral to that plan. It faces east and all sorts of wildlife use it.

At the opposite end of the Wildflower Hill along the driveway; which is about the only shady part on the property that I can garden; are a few of the spiderworts I showcased in the first picture of this post. These two were planted by me but there are spiderworts growing on Wildflower Hill naturally. Behind the chartreuse (Sweet Kate) and green (Blueberry Sunday-also the bloom pictured in the first photo) spiderworts Packera glabella, aka Butterweed, grows nicely. I love the yellow contrast. I actually dug up these 'wildings' from my other house and moved them there. I hope they self seed and spread themselves about because the yellow is a very pretty eye catcher and pollinators like the flowers. The Illinois Wildflower site says cottontail rabbits and white tailed deer avoid this plant. That's another reason I like it in this area because it is tough and I don't have to worry about it being eaten.

In the wild orchard we still have some of the over 10000 daffodil bulbs blooming. It was always my intent to allow the orchard floor to grow up naturally but I am rethinking that strategy simply because waist high grass is no fun to walk through. That is a problem I will have to work on. But for now allowing the grass to grow ensures the daffodil foliage will have a chance to ripen up before being mowed down. I do think the long grass is beautiful but just tough to walk in. Surprisingly we have not had a tick problem in the orchard. This most likely be because wild animals generally cannot get into the orchard due to the electric fence, and also because there are no large trees in the orchard. So for now the long grass is not a major problem for me.

I leave you with one last picture of my little Cornus kousa, Korean dogwood. It is quite the bloomer this year-18 months after having been moved out to the new property. I love its blooms and all the blooms, wild or not....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Blue Moon Phlox

BY SKEETER

 I have been working my rump off in my GEORGIA GARDENS the past few days! And I am loving every minute of it too! Cool mornings and evenings with what I consider perfect sunny and warm yet not humid days!

 I have never really had much Spring color before as most of my gardens were full of summer blooming plants. The past couple of years, I have been working at getting more Spring color. I think I did a great job on the East side of the house by the Chimney Planter. I have discovered that Blue Moon Phlox, (phlox divaricate) loves my gardens! This area was bare until last fall when I divided a couple of plants from the main planter. I transferred the little saplings along the boarder of this new planter in hopes for some filling in of a blank spot. My plan worked but I had forgotten the plants were Phlox!  I keep saying that I am going to make tags and even have the supplies to create them, I have just yet to be motivated to make them. 

Tina do you remember asking me what this plant was when you were visiting with us in Winter? Well, I told you wrong as I thought it was something different then this beautiful BLUE MOON PHLOX, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Stopping Erosion

BY SKEETER

This circled area had an erosion issue for some time. A bit difficult to see in this picture but the grass slopes down to the asphalt driveway. Rain runoff was slowly eroding the earth at the corner of the retaining brick wall. I say slowly as we are under drought conditions most of the time in my Georgia Gardens.  After 10 years, erosion was becoming a problem.

I failed to snap a "Before" photo of this eroded area last Fall. The day I created this little Rock Garden, I was not planning it. It just kind of happen. I collected some large stones and placed them around the larger eroded gaps. I then added pea gravel into the smaller gaps. I pulled some Phlox Moss sprigs from a planter and dug it into the ground in hopes it would root over winter. I planted a Mexican Petunia in the center and I was careful to remember to water this little spot often. A few little statues of dogs and a frog and I decided this garden was complete. Is any garden ever complete? Ha... The above picture was snapped in early May.

Moving to late July, we see the Mexican Petunia (Ruellia brittoniana) is blooming. We also see a blooming Crepe Myrtle bush. This bush was a tree until last year when a storm had Miss Myrtle doing the splits. Click HERE to see that sad saga. She is making a comeback! Back to the Petunia; this is a new plant to me as I added 3 of them last fall. I believe it was Darla that told me they are a bully plant in Florida. They are on the FL Exotic Pest Plant Council (EPPC) so I am a bit concerned with these new additions to my gardens. I shall keep an eye on them. 

At 10:00 in the morning, I find beautiful purple blooms!

By 8:00 in the evening, they have all fallen to the ground. Is this normal?

They look pretty lying on the lush green Moss Phlox but I would think that the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds would rather they remain on the plant.

If you follow the brick wall down a bit, you can see a second Petunia in the Tri-angle Planter which is outside the Porch Planter. This is the West side of the house. The Porch Planter faces North and holds Japanese Maple, Nandina and Camellia.The third Petunia is located on the East side of the other Porch Planter. In the other Tri-angle Planter. These two Porch Planters and Tri-angle Planters are a sort of mirror image of each other. 

This little Rock Garden is thus far doing its job of STOPPING EROSION, In the Garden...

Wildflower/Native Wednesday-Phlox Paniculata

From In the Garden

It's that time of the month-Wildflower/Native Wednesday. For more posts on this subject see Gail at Clay and Limestone. I am highlighting tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) in this month's post. While phlox is probably not considered a wildflower it is surely a plant native to America. Not only is tall garden phlox native to most of the United States, it is a queen in the summer garden and this time of the year is when it shines most brightly.

The cultivar pictured above is a new kind of phlox commonly called 'Spinners' (Patent PP 17380). The Spinners phlox is very resistant to mildew, a definite bonus in our humid summers here in the south. In the year it has been growing here it has shown no issues whatsoever. I have even moved it a few times this season and still it is doing well.

From In the Garden

I grow several cultivars here at Tiger Gardens. My favorite ones are the ones that do NOT get mildew. In addition to the Spinners phlox (very reminiscent of peppermint candy) another mildew resistant phlox growing here is 'Flame White'. Flame White is a dwarf garden phlox and quite a stunner in its own right. It is a Proven Winners selection and rightly so because it is a winner here.

From In the Garden

I also grow 'Starfire', 'David', a white phlox, and an unknown light purple phlox; which gets mildew in a big way. Grrrr! I have not been pleased with David or the unknown purple. Starfire could do better in my opinion but as long as it blooms and does not get mildew it is a keeper here.

From In the Garden

A very new addition to the phlox repertoire here is 'Nicky'. Nicky is a stunner! While it is not as tall as I'd like it to be I believe it will be a bit taller next year. I have read that 'Nicky' is mildew resistant but since it is so new I am not sure yet-but just look at that color! It is reputed to be the darkest purple of all phloxes. I personally like the deeply hued summertime perennials such as red and orange daylilies rather than pastels. Pastels just tend to get washed out in our hot sun here in the summer. Nicky is a perfect summertime perennial with her deep color.

Tall garden phloxes do well in full to part sun, the more sun the better, and rich clay soil. In my experience they will require some additional watering during particularly hot and dry summers. I don't do anything special to my phlox except perhaps add some compost and bonemeal once in a while to the soil. Phlox are heavy feeders and do require good soil. I have read where some gardeners cut their phlox back in order to keep the phlox shorter and blooming in a bigger way, but I do not cut my phlox back though I do deadhead. I have never sprayed for fungal diseases but I may just begin and see how that goes on my older phloxes. I do think it is wise to buy the newer cultivars because with the newer ones I have I have had no issues with mildew whatsoever.

Now a question for you, who knew tall garden phlox was a native American wildflower and what is your favorite cultivar....

in the garden....?


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden