Phlox 'Bareightysix' FLAME BLUE

I love seeing that even so-called old-fashioned plants such as perennial phlox still attract breeders’ attention and they invest time and energy in crossbreeding and selecting new, hardier, healthier, and more beautiful varieties. Their popularity is proved by the fact that they occupy 3 large pages in the RHS Encyclopedia of Plants (not many plants can boast that).

The flower colour of FLAME BLUE phlox is gentle and shy like early spring flowers that don’t show their deeper tones as if afraid of harsh frosts. This perennial, however, is anything but spring-like or tender. FLAME BLUE is a hybrid perennial phlox from the paniculata group bred by a phlox specialist Gosen Bartels from the Netherlands, and introduced in 2013.

FLAME BLUE phlox produces 3 cm wide, almost white flowers flushed pale violet. Some flowers are completely white, others show violet colour only on half of the petals, some bear only faint violet margins. All of them produce tiny but conspicuous purple flames around the throat, so typical for phlox subulata (groundcovering phlox). They are sweetly and spicy fragrant, composed in terminal, rounded panicles, and bloom over and extended period from June until September.

It is a shorter growing variety, not dwarf, commonly reaching about 40-50 cm in height, possibly a little taller in humus-rich, moist soils. Leaves are broadly elliptic, 8-9 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, dark green, partially glossy, and significantly resistant to powdery mildew. In other words when other perennials may exhibit exhaustion or late summer diseases from September onwards.

Growing phlox is easy. It likes almost any garden soil, fertile or poor, but with enough nutrients the flowering will be heavier, and the plant will not suffer common phlox diseases. They are long-lived plants that will stay in your garden until you dig them out. Sunny location is preferred but will flower in partial shade, too. Hardy to about -34°C (USDA zone 4).

Last update 28-09-2022