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Phlox

The genus Phlox belongs to the family Polemoniaceae and includes roughly 65 to 68 species, almost all of them native to North America. Only a single species reaches into north‑eastern Asia, so this is a group that evolved mainly in the American landscape – from tundra and open woodland to wide prairies. The name comes from the Greek phlox, meaning “flame”, a reference to the vivid colours that impressed early botanists. The genus appeared in botanical literature as early as the 17th century, but it was Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) who formally established it in 1753. Earlier authors used different names, such as Plukenet’s Lychnidea from 1696, which shows how unclear the family boundaries were at the time. Because the species grow in such varied habitats, gardeners later gained access to a broad range of plants suited to very different conditions.

Phlox subulata, known as moss phlox or creeping phlox, is native to the eastern United States, growing on rocky slopes, sandy soils and open ground from New York down to North Carolina. Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) described the species in 1753. It reached Europe in the late 18th century and quickly became popular for its toughness, its ability to thrive in poor soils and the dense evergreen mats that turn into a solid sheet of colour in early spring. By the late 19th and early 20th century, it had become a key parent in breeding low, spring‑flowering phloxes. It was most often crossed with species such as Phlox douglasii or Phlox bifida, which contributed finer foliage, different height or a longer flowering period. These hybrids are used much like the original species – on rock gardens, dry walls and border edges – but modern breeding has made them more colour‑stable, more compact and generally more reliable in everyday garden conditions.