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Garden landscaping experts confidently claim that phlox can be planted with a huge number of companion plants, creating excellent ensembles and compositions. These bright, showy flowers are annual and perennial, tall and creeping, and have different flowering periods. The richest variety of their varieties and colors opens up limitless scope for the designer’s imagination.
The ideas for using phlox in landscape design are truly inexhaustible. You can make them the central focus or use them as a background. It looks great both when planting one or more species independently, or when combining them with other ornamental and flowering plants. A well-thought-out composition involving these flowers can be made in any style, from strict classics to cozy country, and will be an excellent solution for revitalizing a flowerbed, garden or plot.
Features of design planning with perennial phlox
North America is considered the birthplace of phlox. In domestic ornamental gardening, these colorful, lush-flowering plants gained popularity back in the 19th century.
The word "phlox" is translated from Greek as "flame"
Landscape designers love these plants, noting a number of their inherent advantages:
- a variety of varieties of flowers, differing in color, height, shape of peduncles, etc.;
- lush and abundant flowering;
- unpretentiousness in flower care;
- universal purpose – can be used in gardens of any size and style;
- frost resistance;
- ability to grow quickly and well;
- easy replanting even during the flowering period;
- quick adaptation to the new soil.
These plants do not bloom for very long. However, due to the correct combination of species with different budding periods, you can continuously admire them for almost five months a year.
The existing classifications will help you navigate the variegated variety of species and varieties and select exactly those phloxes that you would like to see in the design of your own garden.
Based on their shape and growth, they are usually divided into three large groups:
- Bush, when several dozen stems originate from one root. They are represented by tall, medium-tall and short-tall forms.
- Intermediate, or loose-turf. These are forms that have creeping stems from which upright growing shoots rise.
- Creeping or ground cover.During flowering, they look like a solid bright mat and can occupy a large area.
According to the shape of the peduncles, phloxes are most often:
- paniculate;
- spread out;
- awl-shaped.
Their flowering periods can be designated as follows:
- early, when flowers appear in May;
- medium, if the first inflorescences open in June;
- late, allowing you to admire the flowers in July-September.
The variety of types, varieties and forms of perennial phlox is impressive
In order for phloxes in garden design to remain lush and bright for a long time, maintaining health and a beautiful decorative appearance, you need to remember some subtleties of caring for them:
- These flowers cannot grow in one place without transplanting for more than 6-8 years. By the end of this period, the plant significantly weakens and loses its attractiveness. It should be rejuvenated from time to time by dividing the rhizome and planting the side parts.
- If the summer is dry and hot, these flowers definitely need regular, abundant watering. Otherwise, the lower leaves will turn yellow and fall off, unsightly exposing part of the stem.
- If the choice fell on varieties that are considered vulnerable to powdery mildew, it is better not to be lazy and prevent this disease in time.
- A correctly drawn up schedule for applying fertilizers and correctly selected compositions will help them bloom for a long time and abundantly, decorating the garden.
What do phlox go with?
When planning a composition with phlox in the garden, you need to select neighbors for them who will be satisfied with similar growing conditions:
- sunny or semi-shaded area, ideally with diffused light;
- planting location on a small hill, preventing stagnation of water at the roots;
- providing plenty of moisture;
- loose sandy or loamy soil enriched with peat or humus;
- slightly acidic or neutral soil reaction.
It is also important to take into account that the roots of phlox are powerful and branched, located close to the surface.
The structure of the root system of companion plants should be such as to exclude “competition” for moisture and nutrients within the planting framework.
What flowers can be planted next to phlox?
Now it’s worth taking a closer look at those flowers and ornamental plants with which phlox is most interestingly combined in the garden. A selection of photos will help you imagine how such compositions look in the design of a site.
Is it possible to plant phlox of different colors side by side?
One of the simplest and yet most effective solutions is to combine several varieties of phlox of different types, sizes and colors in a flowerbed. When choosing which ones to plant next to each other, you need to pay attention to other details:
- how the flowers are colored - monochromatic or combine two or more colors;
- how the shades are distributed - in the form of spots, stripes, edging;
- color intensity – delicate or, on the contrary, rich, bright range;
- the shape of the petals is smooth, corrugated or wavy.
Experienced florists recommend avoiding sharp contrasts of varieties, trying to combine the palette harmoniously
You can also give preference to one color, combining its shades and tones in different versions.
Examples of the use of phlox in the landscape design of a summer cottage are shown in the photo:
By placing tall or medium-growing varieties in the center of the composition, and bringing low ones to the foreground, you can easily arrange a beautiful ceremonial flower garden
On a green lawn, a bright area made of monochromatic varieties of phlox in pink, red, white or purple flowers, or a combination thereof, looks very impressive
By planting strips of ground cover varieties nearby, it is easy to get a bright, variegated “carpet” of any shape and color
The compact, low forms of varieties make best flowering borders near a green area or path
Paniculate phlox of several varieties with the same flowering period look great in the design of a ridge or simply in a group planting
Can phlox be planted next to roses?
When deciding what to plant phlox with in the garden, it is worth considering the option of combining them with roses. It should be borne in mind that a lush beauty, present in any composition, always acts as the main plant, and the task of the “companions” will be to successfully shade and emphasize it.
So, a thick carpet of creeping forms of these flowers, spread out at the foot of a bush rose, will make it look even more impressive. But the most common combinations are the “queen of the garden” and paniculate phlox flowers.
If the roses are tall, such “companions” will become an excellent border; if they are low, they will be suitable as a background
Early varieties of phlox bloom at the same time as roses, and later ones will continue to decorate the composition even when the latter have already faded.
It is important that the color of the “companions” is determined successfully in order to avoid disharmony and the effect of variegation.
You can select plants to match, combining pale pink, peach or yellow roses with phloxes of blue, lilac, dark blue flowers
A monochrome composition looks great when, for example, shades of delicate creamy white are chosen
A game of contrasts can also be successful
Combination of hydrangea and phlox
Undoubtedly, phlox can become wonderful “companions” for hydrangea.
The secret of the charm of hydrangea is that it can organically fit into the composition of any style, but partner plants will have to “set the tone” for the design theme of this corner of the garden.
When choosing a hydrangea bush to decorate a flower bed, it is advisable to give preference to low-growing varieties with narrow leaves. As for the shape and color of the inflorescences, there is a rich scope for the manifestation of imagination.
Hydrangea tree varieties combine well in mixborders with plants of different heights. The wide leaves of the hosta, planted in the foreground, will add decorativeness to the flower garden and cover the stems of paniculate phlox, the pink flowers of which, in turn, will sparkle with bright colors against the backdrop of snow-white balls.
Another example of a combination of phlox and hydrangea in the landscape is shown in the photo. The white inflorescences of the Polar Bear hydrangea perfectly set off the tall phloxes, painted in contrasting lilac tones.
In addition, the caps of white phlox themselves can look very similar to the blooming panicle hydrangea. And, if you select varieties of suitable shades, sizes and shapes, as well as those that coincide in flowering period, and simply plant them side by side, you will get a very interesting result.
Combination of phloxes with other flowers in the flowerbed
Phlox in the garden combine harmoniously with many flowers. To summarize, a number of patterns can be noted. Early flowering awl-shaped varieties look excellent in alpine hills and rockeries, in the design of borders near paths and lawns. Ground cover flowering perennials will successfully become “companions” for them: saxifrage, cat’s foot, alpine bisperm, carnation, periwinkle, aubrieta.
Asters, speedwells, knotweed, geraniums, and some varieties of bells can become wonderful “companions” for phloxes that bloom in summer.
Next to the summer-autumn varieties, astilbes, basilisks, lungworts, and Siberian irises will show themselves wonderfully. A very good company for late-blooming phloxes will be spirea or dwarf barberry Thunberg.
In combination with phloxes, delphiniums, heleniums, somedago, lupins, pyrethrums, and oriental poppies look impressive
Such potential “companions” of these flowers as peonies and daylilies deserve special attention.
With peonies
Peonies on the site remain decorative from early spring until autumn frosts. If you choose the right varieties, their flowering can last for almost two months.
Most often, these plants are placed “in the ground floor” or in the foreground of the composition.Even after the end of flowering, their carved leaves will serve as a magnificent backdrop for bright paniculate phlox, and the lush greenery of the bushes will cover the lower parts of the stems of the latter, which often lose their attractive appearance.
You can also plant phlox with peonies in a high flower bed, like the one in the photo:
An edge made of forget-me-nots and Turkish carnations emphasizes the neatness of the shape and gives the flower garden a complete look.
With daylilies
Perennial phloxes are an excellent companion to daylilies in landscape design. The photo below shows examples of successful compositions:
Daylilies, like phlox, amaze with their variety of varieties and richness of colors. When planning decorative planting, you need to take into account the compatibility of shades and the timing of flowering of plants. If these conditions are met, a flower bed in which low daylilies complement tall varieties of multi-colored paniculate phlox can look very advantageous.
The “finest hour” of the duet of these colors usually occurs in the second half of summer. Both of them appear at this time in all their glory. Large multi-level flower beds and mixborders, where they play a leading role, look great from a distance, so they will become a magnificent decoration of spacious areas and parks.
But at the same time, even a small, neat flower garden with these plants may well become the “highlight” of a small area if you place it, for example, against the wall of a country house.
The agrotechnical conditions for growing phlox and daylilies are very similar, and neither one nor the other flower can be called capricious. Therefore, the key to their successful combination will be the harmony of shades and well-chosen height.
What ornamental plants are combined with phlox?
It is worth noting that not only flowers can be used as “companions” of phlox in the design of the site. The photo below shows the implementation of excellent ideas involving ornamental plants.
Ground cover awl-shaped phlox attracts the eye in the central tier of a multi-level flower bed. The brightness and beauty of their flowering is emphasized by fancy rosettes. ornamental cabbage and the colorful red-brown foliage of Barberry Thunberg.
A cloud of small, delicate phlox flowers will enliven a secluded corner of the garden in the company of fern and hosta
Groups of multi-colored paniculate phlox combine wonderfully in a colorful mixborder along with Hoopsie spruce, astrantia, lilies and roses
Dwarf shrubs - euonymus, cotoneaster, some types of spirea - look especially picturesque against the backdrop of bright spots of creeping phlox and large stones
Tall paniculate phlox can look very organically framed by large evergreen perennials
What should you not plant phlox next to in the flowerbed and in the garden?
In order for a border, flowerbed, mixborder or edging to successfully fulfill its decorative function, you should know well what you can plant phlox next to on your site, and what plants these flowers do not get along with at all.
It is extremely undesirable for trees and shrubs with a powerful superficial root system to be located in close proximity to them. Competition with lilac, spruce, birch, plum, cherry, willow or poplar will end in the death of the phlox: it will definitely lose the fight with them for food.
Conclusion
The examples given above allow us to conclude that you can safely plant phlox with a variety of “neighbors” in regular and landscape compositions of any shape and style, invariably obtaining excellent results. These bright, beautiful flowers are easy to grow and do not require complex care or special environmental conditions. Knowing what phloxes are combined with in a flowerbed, taking into account the size, shape and color scheme of ornamental and flowering plants selected as “companions”, you can create an excellent ensemble that will decorate any green corner.
