Lovers of all things beautiful often notice this bright, extraordinary flower, which is the only annual representative of its genus. For modern gardeners, Drummond's phlox is also considered an attractive plant, preferred for growing in flower beds, mixborders, and special portable containers. Heat-loving, absolutely unpretentious varieties of modern flora can decorate any area of ​​the garden, yard, and become an effective decoration for a terrace or balcony. This unique annual plant is named after the English botanist who brought the flower planting to Europe from America.

Growing from seeds is possible for any gardener, it just requires patience. In the article you can read about how planting and subsequent care of plants are carried out in the seedling phase and in open ground. You can also look at the Drummond phlox in the photo, illustrating all the visual attractiveness of the flowers:

High-quality cultivation of Drummond phlox from seeds

The plant is a small annual shrub, quite branched and lush. The height of each bush can reach 10-50 centimeters - depending on the specific variety. At favorable conditions And with proper care, bright representatives of the flora bloom so profusely that neither leaves nor soil can be seen behind the attractive inflorescences. Implemented quality cultivation Drummond phlox from seeds, and taking into account the regions and climate characteristics, flowers can be planted using seedlings or sown directly into the ground.

For example, in the southern regions of Russia already at the end of April you can choose a place for sowing. It should be light, have a structure, fertile soil. After mulching with compost (or humus), the seeds must be watered periodically and covered during dry weather. non-woven material to maintain humidity. After emergence of seedlings, the coating is removed. It is quite important to rid the plant of annoying weeds from the very beginning and fertilize it with high-quality mineral complexes.

In the northern parts of Russia and middle lane countries, planting of Drummond phlox is carried out through the initial cultivation of seedlings from seeds. Optimal time for planting this way - the second half of March. Within a week you can see the first shoots, and when the first leaves appear, it is necessary to pick the plant - this can ensure good condition for the flowers when transplanted into the soil. Caring for seedlings is not difficult, it is important to remember the basic rules and stages of care:

• seedlings should be located in the brightest possible place so that the plants do not stretch in height and lose their originality and attractiveness;
• the optimal room temperature for sprouts is 18-21 degrees Celsius;
• As the soil dries, the seedlings must be watered, avoiding severe drying out;
• organics and complex fertilizers feed the seedlings weekly.

Plants should be planted in the ground in mid-to-late May. Since the seedlings begin to bloom 45-60 days after planting the seeds, by the time they are transplanted into the soil the plants should already have buds and even the first flowers.

Experts are accustomed to combining two types of landing ornamental plants– planting seedlings is combined with sowing seeds in open ground. In this case, the persistent aroma and colorful flowering pattern can delight owners for up to six months.

Bright and fashionable Drummond phlox: planting, care and feeding

Planting Drummond phlox is a very important matter; depending on the correct agricultural technology, you can get a bright and fashionable flower or a pale and stunted plant. For these phloxes, you cannot spare space - the bushes must be planted at a distance of at least 15 cm between each other or other plantings, since even cultivated plants They don't tolerate being around very well. It is important to choose sunny, well-lit and warm places, avoiding damp and shady places. The soil must be loose and cultivated. If you plant on heavy, soaking soil, root system will immediately begin to rot.

Among the nutrients necessary for annual phlox, nitrogen plays the most important role. You can periodically sprinkle ammonium nitrate over the planted flowers, after which it is important to water so that burns do not remain on the leaves. There are a number of other actions that need to be carried out periodically when caring for Drummond phlox: the more and more abundantly (if necessary) the plants are watered, the larger and brighter the inflorescences will be. The duration of the flowering period also depends to some extent on this process. It is necessary to feed and loosen the soil regularly. Fertilizing is done using mineral and complex fertilizers diluted in water in the dosage recommended by the manufacturer.

The root system of plants is superficial, so you need to loosen the soil as carefully as possible. It is recommended to feed flowering plants with complex fertilizers twice during the summer. The use of manure is undesirable, since the bushes will grow extensively and bloom weakly. When the inflorescences wilt, it is advisable to remove them.

It is possible that in dry weather the plants will stop producing color even with constant watering. In this case, you need to remove the wilted inflorescences and feed the flowers with high-quality complex fertilizers. Approximately 10-14 days after rehabilitation procedures, the bushes will bloom magnificently and brightly again.

Variety of varieties - phlox Drummonda Leucanteum and others (with photo)

The variety of these flowers comes in a variety of varieties with different bush heights. And can also be combined with many types of plants and decorative flowers. For example, Drummond phlox and Leucanteum will confidently complement each other in garden or yard flower beds. These aster-like daisies bloom at about the same times as phlox, although they are perennial plants. They are also unpretentious and require constant feeding and regular watering. There are other varieties of Drummond phlox - the photos on this page demonstrate their external aesthetic qualities:

Phlox Drummond Promise looks original and attractive in various combinations and in single flowering. These low-growing shrubs have a fairly compact shape. Double and semi-double flowers can have a variety of shades, growing in large corymbose inflorescences. This variety is used for planting on borders, ridges, and flower beds; they are often used to decorate rocky decorative hills. Abundant flowering is observed in the period June-October.

This type of annual phlox has different garden forms. Among them, the following categories are usually distinguished: dwarf, stellate, tetraploid. The stems of all categories of flowers are highly branched and characterized by persistent stickiness.

The shades of Drummond phlox flowers can be very different - from purple, lilac and fiery red to snow-white and pink. There are varieties with flowers whose shades are mixed. They come with various spots, stains, streaks, and rings. Flower shapes also come in a wide range of variations. They can be in the shape of stars, roses, round or wheel-shaped.

The original use of Drummond phlox - photos of ideas and variations of bright landscape design

Modern landscape designers They even have their own preferences in colors. And Drummond's phlox, photos of which can often be found on the Internet in various options, enjoys considerable success. Despite the fact that this is an annual plant, it blooms for quite long periods, and with its help you can decorate any species with the highest quality and originality. Application of Drummond phlox in landscape design allows you to realize the most daring and original ideas and variations. The bright spot of this plant will create a favorable impression of any composition - look how it looks in the photo:

Group plantings are used in mixborders and various types of containers. Diversity color range allows you to create multi-colored, eye-catching flower beds and dilute other types of flower beds. Often such annuals are used for planting paths and creating borders.

To decorate a garden or yard area, phloxes of this type are often planted in pots or garden containers, creating original, picturesque pictures. In addition, it is important to add plant seeds to mixtures for garden lawns.

These fragrant, beautiful flowers came to Europe from North America in the 19th century and became inhabitants of lawns, gardens, edges, borders and even balconies. Perhaps the harsh climate of their fatherland endowed them with strength, unpretentiousness and resilience. Phloxes belong to the genus herbaceous plants from the cyanaceae family. They contain 70 species, but only half of them are cultivated.

Among the many species of annual phlox, Drummond's is the most popular among gardeners. Compared to their perennial relatives, they take first place in their use in landscape compositions. This is due to the wide variety of varieties, flower shapes, and colors compared to perennials. They look great in flower beds and alpine slides. The space near the home is decorated with flowers using decorative flowerpots.

One complex inflorescence can contain 90 flowers. Each has five stamens, bent petals, and one pistil. Tubular funnel-shaped flowers resemble stars or snowflakes with a rich palette of colors and undertones. These are beige, cream, scarlet, pink, yellow, azure, lilac, coffee, black and other colors. Flowers have the ability to change appearance in response to weather vagaries. In strong sun they become richer, and in gloomy weather they fade. Bushes with many green shoots look like bright, fancy balls.

Gallery: Drummond phlox (25 photos)

Types and varieties

Phlox Drummond is the only annual species, it has 2 varieties:

• large-flowered ones grow 30 cm high. Their large inflorescences are characterized by all sorts of colors, but phloxes with scarlet flowers look especially tempting;
• star-shaped ones grow up to 40 cm in height and less often up to 15 cm. The colorful flowers look like stars with an eye in the middle.

Currently, the most popular Drummond varieties are:

Reproduction

Phlox propagate in two ways: seeds and petioles. From mid-May to June cuttings are carried out. To do this, cut off a cutting with two or three leaves and plant it in open soil. After a month, the plant develops a root system, and by autumn it blooms.

Growing from seeds

How to grow phlox from seeds? Let's look at how phlox is grown from seeds and proper care behind them.

First of all, choose a landing site. The flower will grow and bloom well in a sunny area without darkening. The flower is picky about the composition and structure of the soil. It grows poorly on heavy sandy soils. The composition of the soil is corrected with the help of additional elements - humus, peat, humus. The ideal period for planting grains is in early May. The grains are planted in moistened surface grooves, two or three grains in one hole with a distance of 15 centimeters from each other. If all the seedlings germinate, the weakest ones are pulled out.

To prevent the seedlings from drying out, they are covered with a synthetic material - lutrasil - until the sprouts grow. The first shoots appear within 1.5 weeks. After pecking the grains, the soil is loosened, excess shoots are pulled out and the first fertilizer with nitrogen is applied. The second feeding for flowers is carried out after 7 days. A complex of fertilizers for annuals is applied at the stage of ripening of plant buds. The first blooming of flowers grown from grains occurs in early June.

Most gardeners plant grains in open ground late autumn as soon as fruit trees will throw off the crown. Phlox grains are frost-resistant, so they are not terrified by cold. In the south, grains are planted in the last ten days of December. A bucket is provided for this garden soil. As soon as the snow covers the ground, it is trampled down, and the grains are laid out on the surface, several at a time, at a distance of 20 centimeters from each other. The grains are sprinkled with garden soil from a bucket on top and left until spring. Shoots appear in early April.

Growing seedlings from seeds

Sow seeds for seedlings in March in a box with soil, cover with cellophane and place in dark place. After a week, the sprouts grow, the cellophane is removed and the box is moved to the window. After 21 days, they pick the seedlings and plant them three at a time in one flowerpot. Fertilize the seedlings three times with an interval of 10 days. When the seedlings grow to 5-6 leaves and 10 cm in height, their tops are pinched. Then the bush will be luxurious and branchy.

When caring for seedlings, you must follow the following rules:

• the temperature in the room with seedlings should be 18-21 degrees;
• boxes with seedlings are exposed to bright sun; in insufficient lighting, the sprouts grow tall and lose their beauty;
• do not allow the soil to dry out, water the seedlings as needed;
• systematically feed the flowers with organic matter and a complex of fertilizers.

Planting in the ground and care

Seedlings are planted in uncovered soil in the month of May. Phlox care involves loosening, watering and fertilizing the soil. Flowers are planted on permanent place at a distance of 15 centimeters from each other and from adjacent plantings. The plants are drought-resistant and do not tolerate waterlogging. For generous flowering in dry seasons, plants are watered moderately.

Phloxes are fed once every couple of weeks mineral fertilizers. Organic matter is not used; it promotes an increase in green mass, not flowering. Since the plants have a shallow root system, they loosen the soil very carefully. Wilted inflorescences are torn off so that the phloxes bloom more colorfully and elegantly. Mulching is carried out continuously so that the soil does not dry out and to supply it with oxygen. Humus, compost, dry peat and leaves are used as mulch.

Growing from seeds in open ground

Phlox is propagated by seeds. The seeds are collected as soon as the plant has finished flowering. The grains are tripartite, like small boxes. After harvesting, the grains are dried and placed in cloth bags.

Sometimes they are sown directly in open ground. Most best period for this purpose – the first days of May. Make grooves in the soil one centimeter deep and water them with water. When the moisture is absorbed, pour 2-3 grains into one place, at a distance of 15 centimeters from each other. When shoots appear, the only healthy shoot is left, the others are removed. Provide regular care: fertilize and water as needed. After the formation of flower buds, fertilizing is done. The seeds have excellent cold resistance; grains are sown before winter.

Diseases and pests

The flower is exposed to all sorts of diseases and is affected by insect pests - spider mite and thrips. Overwatering soil forms fungal diseases. To eradicate such diseases completely garden plot It won’t work, but you can minimize them. For the purpose of prevention, they dig up the soil in the fall, control acidity, and more often plant flowers in new places. They also systematically remove fallen leaves and weed out weeds.

Phlox Drummond in landscape design

Landscape designers are increasingly using annual low-growing phlox in compositions compared to perennial ones, forming borders from them and planting them along paths. The flower looks good in containers and mixborders. Phloxes look colorful and picturesque due to their spectacular flowers in flower beds and flower beds. To decorate private homes and the adjacent garden, dwarf phloxes are planted in garden pots and flowerpots. With this design, unique and colorful floral landscapes are obtained.

Growing phlox from grains is an interesting and simple matter. Even a novice gardener can grow them. Caring for annual Drummond phlox is low. If you try, these magnificent flowers will delight you with their gentle and intoxicating fragrance and colorful, rich blooms all summer long.

Thanks to their varied shades, abundant flowering and unpretentiousness, phlox has received well-deserved love among gardeners. Growing in nature in North America plants are very popular in all European countries. Even a beginner in floriculture can cope with their cultivation and care, subject to all recommendations and rules.

Description, types and varieties of phlox with photos

Annual phloxes have the greatest variety of shades, shapes and varieties. They can be star-shaped or terry, blue, white, cream or different shades red

One of the best annuals is Drummond phlox, which is native to Texas. The plant is bush with branched stem, the height of which can be from 12 to 30 cm. Its opposite leaves have an oval-lanceolate shape. Fragrant flowers may be salmon, yellow, white, dark red or purple.

The most popular varieties annual phlox Drummond are:

Annual phloxes: growing from seeds

To achieve more long flowering, Drummond phlox It is recommended to grow seedlings. Seeds sown immediately in the ground take a very long time to germinate, and plants grown from them bloom only at the end of summer. Earlier flowering can be obtained if you sow the seeds in open ground before winter.

Sowing seeds in open ground

Seeds should be planted directly into the flowerbed in October - November. If there is already snow, it is removed, and the seeds are scattered at a distance of 4-5 cm directly onto the frozen soil. To protect plants from freezing, the beds are first covered with soil prepared in advance, then with snow and cover with leaves or straw. The seedlings will hatch early spring. When two true leaves appear, they will need to be picked out, planted at a distance of 20 cm from each other.

Sowing phlox for seedlings

At home, sowing is done at the beginning - end of March. It all depends on when the last frost in your area ends. In order for the seeds to germinate quickly, there is no need to press them into the soil. They are sprinkled with a little earthen mixture on top and sprayed with warm water.

Seedling boxes covered with glass or polyethylene, and put away in a warm place. The soil needs to be ventilated daily. When the first seedlings appear, the containers are placed in a well-lit place, and the glass or polyethylene is removed. At this stage, caring for seedlings consists only of keeping the soil moist.

After the appearance of two or three true leaves, the young plants are seated individual pots. Behind them already will need special care:

1. In the first days, the seedlings are not protected from sunlight. transparent film or a newspaper.
2. When the sprouts take root and grow their sixth true leaf, they are pinched to form a lush and compact bush.
3. Before planting in open ground, seedlings are fed twice with mineral fertilizers.
4. In April, young plants need to start hardening off. To do this, the pots are exposed for an hour or two. open balcony or to the garden.

Annual phloxes are planted in open ground after the end of frost, at the end of May. By this time, some varieties will have already formed buds.

Drummond phloxes: planting and growing in open ground

Grown, strengthened and hardened seedlings are planted in well-lit areas, protected from the scorching sun. Plants will grow best in partial shade in high flower beds. In the sun, phlox inflorescences fade, but in partial shade the color saturation remains for a long time.

Landing Features

Annual phloxes do not like acidic areas and soils with poor drainage. The best soil mixture for them is fertile sand without clay. Lime can be added if necessary. If the site has heavy loams, then they are diluted with peat, organic fertilizers and sand.

Seedlings are planted in shallow holes, at the bottom of which compost or vermicompost is poured and some ash. The roots are carefully straightened horizontally and sprinkled with soil. The plants are watered and the soil around them is mulched.

Watering and fertilizing

Caring for Drummond phloxes after planting them in open ground is not difficult. Over the entire season, it is necessary to loosen the soil twice a month and hill it up in the second half of the growing season. In this case, the root system will form faster.

Phloxes are watered moderately but regularly. For one square meter Planting requires one and a half to two buckets of water. On hot days, watering is done in the morning and evening. The water is poured directly under the root. It should not be cold, otherwise the roots may crack in the heat.

Phlox Drummond is fed several times a season. organic and mineral fertilizers:

During the season, the tops of young plants are pinched off. In this case, the bushes begin to branch better. Faded and wilted flowers are regularly removed to preserve the attractive appearance of the flower and prolong its flowering.

A flowerbed of Drummond phlox of different shades and varieties looks beautiful and impressive. They can be used to decorate alpine coaster and curbs. A large flowering ball decorating the yard can be obtained by planting annual phloxes in pots or buckets and placing them nearby. With proper care and cultivation, you can admire its flowering throughout the warm season.

Phlox drummond

Common Question Growing Phlox Drummond from Seeds. Let's look at everything piece by piece.

Phlox drummondii is one of only three known annual phlox species found in the world. It is very decorative and easy to grow. However, it requires good nutritious soil and regular watering. If you take these features into account, the plant will thank you abundant flowering from early spring until autumn frosts.

Phloxes have a fairly flexible character, and even a beginner in floriculture can cope with care. The soil with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction, fertile, loose, and with a lot of humus is best suited for it.

Shaded areas with heavy and soggy soil are of little use for the plant.

If you want to grow phlox on loam, you should add sand, peat and organic fertilizer. Before shallow planting, add compost, ash or vermicompost to the soil and spread the roots horizontally.

Features of the view

Unlike its perennial counterparts, Drummond phlox does not grow higher than 50 cm. The inflorescence umbrellas usually do not exceed 2 cm in diameter. The flowers are collected in dense inflorescences and differ in the shape of the corolla petals. Thanks to these features, the plant is often used as a ground cover, and is also used to decorate flower beds, rock gardens and garden beds.

It looks very beautiful to decorate the border with these flowers and plant them along the paths.

Photo: decorating borders and flower beds with beautiful drummond phlox

You can find phlox in hanging planters, baskets, balcony boxes.

Photo: growing beautiful plants on balcony pots

Some people successfully use the flower as an indoor flower.

Distinctive feature decorativeness of flowers - rare for perennial varieties star and terry shape. At the same time, there are Drummond varieties with a standard wheel-shaped flower shape. You won’t find the “Sunny Bunny” or “Pretty Woman” characteristic of Drummond varieties in perennials. yellow» rich yellow coloring

Other varieties may have all the shades of colors characteristic of phlox and such generally distinctive features as strokes, eyes, spots, borders and stars inside or along the edge of the flowers.

Strengths of Phlox Drummond

Growing Phlox Drummond from seeds will great addition any garden. Among the benefits of the plant:

• different height depending on the variety;
• color resistance to fading;
• good drought resistance;
• frost resistance;
• self-seeding;
• easy growing and care.

The different heights of the varieties allow you to create spectacular combinations - dwarf varieties (10-15 cm) are used for variegated soil coverage, and varieties of medium (20-30 cm) and maximum height (40-50 cm) are used for bright spots in flower beds or mixborders.

Not everyone is among perennial phlox have sufficient resistance to fading in the sun. Phlox Drummond can be safely planted in open and constantly lit areas.

The plant can withstand frost down to -5 °C. Thanks to this, early self-sowing, which begins to germinate at the end of summer, blooms and delights with colors until late autumn. Then the seeds germinate in the spring - sometimes it is enough to simply re-sow the places where bald spots have formed to again obtain a dense decorative lawn.

Popular varieties

Popular low-growing varieties include "Defiance" of fiery red color, " Snow globe» white, “Beauty in Crimson”, “Leukantemum”, “Alluring Star”, “Shamoa” (pink), “Salmon” (salmon), “Isabella” (yellow), “Peppermint Candy”, “Grammy Pink/White”. Among the high large-flowered varieties– “Tall Bright Red”, “Tall White”, “Phlox of Sheep”, “Silver Blossom”, “Vibrant Pink”, “Coral Reef Mixed”, “Tapestry” and others. Among both there are semi-double and terry varieties different colors.

Very often, a varietal mixture of Drummond phlox is offered for cultivation. Mixtures can be single-colored, star-shaped, terry, with simple flowers, two-color. You can also find quite rare tetraploid plants, the propagation of which by seed is not always successful.

Among the popular varietal mixtures of Drummond phlox are:

• single-colored - “Beauty”, “Snowball” (white); "Fireball", "Meteor" (red); “Blue Beauty”, “Sugar Stars”, (blue, lilac);
• star-shaped - " Zvezdnoe lace", "Twinkle Mixed";
• terry – “Mount Hampden”, “Chanel”;
• dwarf - “Nana Compacta”, “Perricoat Mixed”;
• two-color - “Spark”, “Tapestry”;
• simple - “Tutti-Frutti”, “Melange” (pink shades), “Buttons Mix”.

The seeds begin to ripen in mid-summer. Small spherical boxes form in the center of the plant. They need to be collected on time, otherwise they will interfere with further flowering. The seeds in them are quite large. 1 g contains 300-360 pieces. The boxes are collected, dried and the seeds are removed. Their germination will last for 3-4 years.

Sowing seeds. When to plant?

Due to their frost resistance, Drummond phlox seeds can be safely sown before winter. They will sprout quite quickly in the spring and bloom for several weeks. before plants grown by seedling method.

Advice: to prevent the seeds from germinating prematurely during a long thaw and to prevent the tender seedlings from being destroyed by the subsequent frost, you should sow the seeds later, until January, or do not forget to cover the seedlings protective material. If you don’t want to risk it, move the sowing to spring.

For spring planting in open soil, it is better to place seeds in separate nests along shallow and well-watered grooves, 3-4 pieces each. The distance is selected depending on the height of the plants - 15-25 cm.

To maintain moisture, the crops should be covered with special material until the first shoots appear (after 7-10 days). Too many shoots can be thinned out after the first true leaf appears. Feeding begins two weeks after germination.

Seedling method

For growing seedlings best time It will be the beginning of March. With earlier sowings due to lack of sunlight the plants will turn out elongated and will bloom poorly. It is most convenient to spread the seeds on a damp and loose substrate, and then cover them with a 1-2 mm layer of soil.

For the first 10 days, you need to keep the crops under film at room temperature (18-24 ° C) in conditions high humidity. It doesn’t matter if a shaded place is chosen for this. As soon as Phlox Drummond seeds sprout, the seedlings need to be moistened moderately, only as the soil dries, in order to avoid rotting.

Advice: provide them with sufficient lighting - this will prevent the plants from stretching and also protect them from rot. For good development of the root system, it is advisable to slow down the growth of seedlings by lowering the temperature to 13-15 °C.

After two weeks, when the first true leaves have formed, we plant the seedlings in separate small pots. If the diameter of the pot is about 9 cm, you can plant there are 2-3 plants in it. Picking is necessary, since adult plants may not tolerate subsequent transplantation into the soil.

The first days after picking, it is better to protect the plants from direct sunlight to avoid burns. A week after adaptation, you should perform one or two times a day nitrogen fertilizing. Then, until planting in open ground, fertilizing is carried out once every 10 days with a complex type of fertilizer.

Tip: dwarf varieties bloom mainly for 2-3 weeks earlier than varieties with medium and high altitude. If you want to achieve the simultaneous start of flowering of phloxes different varieties– you need to first calculate the timing of sowing their seeds. Typically, flowering occurs 2 months after sowing.

Plants begin to actively harden and plant in the ground in April-May. Hardening consists of gradual adaptation to open sunlight. Dwarf varieties planted according to a 12x12 cm pattern, tall ones - according to a 25x 25 cm pattern.

Often, by the time of planting, buds and even the first flowers appear on the plants. Although Phlox light-loving plant, he does not like overheating of the roots. Therefore, you should not plant flowers in constant sun, especially low-growing varieties– even with abundant watering, plants may stop blooming and even die.

Tip: pinch tall plants above the 3-4 leaves when they grow to 7-10 cm. This is necessary for additional branching. Thanks to pinching, you will form a bush that will protect the root system from overheating.

Caring for phlox during cultivation

Caring for planted plants - regular watering and careful loosening of the soil. Flowers should be watered in the morning or in the evening at the root. For 1 sq. m of planting should use 1.5-2 buckets of water. In the second half of the growing season, do not forget to carry out hilling for better formation of the root system.

Phlox Drummond does not tolerate being near weeds. Do not forget to remove faded flowers that interfere with new inflorescences. It’s good to continue comprehensive feeding subsequent after transplants 2-3 weeks. This will ensure abundance of flowering and its duration. Manure should not be used as fertilizer. On such nutritious soil, plants will bloom little and only gain green mass.

Tip: even if the phloxes have completely bloomed, active fertilizing will activate the plant, causing re-blooming. And to ensure the flowering of phlox from early spring to autumn frosts, use a combined method of planting seeds - winter sowing in the ground and growing seedlings.

Disease Prevention

Unfortunately, many diseases can threaten phlox:

• variegation;
• fomoz;
• powdery mildew;
• septoria;
• verticillium wilt.

If the petals of the phlox are covered with a pattern unusual for them, this is variegation. In this case, the affected plant must be dug up and destroyed to prevent infection of the others.

If, while growing phlox, you notice a whitish matte coating covering the leaves and stems, this is powdery mildew. The plant must suffer the same fate. Fungal blight makes leaves and shoots dry and brittle. For prevention, spray colloidal sulfur on the plant, without touching the inflorescences, at a temperature not lower than 18 ° C.

Septoria blight appears as increasing dark brown spots on the surface of the leaves. Spray the plant and the soil with Bordeaux mixture and repeat after two weeks. If the soil is acidic, destruction of the root system may occur due to verticellosis wilting, so it is important to choose the soil responsibly.

Phlox Drummond Pest Control

Attention, pests and diseases!

The nematode, a thread-like tiny worm that feeds on plant sap, is very harmful to phlox. Plants affected by the nematode should be dug up and then burned. The soil must be treated with nematicide three times at three-week intervals.

To protect flowers from naked slugs that eat the plant at night, dust the soil with ash, its mixture with tobacco dust, or fluff lime. It may be necessary to treat phlox with a drug against leaf-chewing pests such as butterfly caterpillars.

Properly grown Drummond phlox will delight your eye both in the open ground and on the balcony or in a room in pots.

Very interesting and useful video, be sure to watch it!