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Phloxes are perhaps the most common flowers. They can be found on almost every personal plot, in every yard of our vast country. Every gardener knows about paniculate phlox. But there are several varieties of these flowers that are just appearing in the flowerbeds of Russian gardeners.
One of these plants is phlox subulate. The flower received such an interesting name because of the unusual shape of the leaves - they are pointed, narrow, hard, which is why they resemble a well-known instrument.
Brief description of the species
Phlox subulate is a perennial, carpet, creeping plant. In its historical homeland, the USA, it is called moss carnation. The distribution area of flowers is quite wide. If half a century ago phlox grew mainly in the wild nature of North America, now these unpretentious and beautiful flowers are grown almost all over the world.
When growing phlox subulates, it is worth considering that in the wild they grow mainly on poor, rocky soils, dry sandy hills, rocky slopes and in the shade of subshrubs.
The maximum height of flowers is no more than 15-17 cm.The awl-shaped phlox grows very quickly, forming emerald green mats. Even before winter, these plants disappear, maintaining the green brightness of the foliage.
The basal stems of phlox subulate are recumbent, covered with frequent nodes with short internodes. The leaves are short (up to 2 cm), narrow, sharp and hard. During the growth process, the plant forms a large number of stems, which end in bright inflorescences. Each stem can contain 2-7 flowers at the same time. Single flower stalks are extremely rare.
The flowers of the awl-shaped phlox are small, from 2 to 4 cm in diameter, white, hot pink, lilac, blue, purple shades with different tones. The flowering period of phlox subulate is short, only 3-4 weeks. The plants gain color in the second half of May. Vigorous flowering continues until mid-June.
Phlox blooms so thickly and densely that the greenery is practically invisible under the flower carpet. Subulate phloxes can bloom again in the second half of August - early September. But the secondary flowering is not so abundant and bright.
There are a lot of varieties of phlox subulate, but they are all the result of selection. These beautiful, inimitable flowers will become a worthy decoration for any garden plot. Very often, these plants are used to create landscape design compositions, decorating alpine hills, rock gardens, rockeries, and mixborders.
Flowers reproduce mainly by vegetative means. You can plant phlox subulate with seeds once, and then the plant grows very quickly.Some varieties of phlox practically do not produce full-fledged seeds, and therefore these flowers are often sold in pots.
The harsh climate is not a significant obstacle to growing phlox subulates, as they can easily tolerate severe frosts. These plants also do not have any special requirements for the composition of the soil.
The only thing that phloxes do not like is prolonged drought. These plants have a superficial root system. Short roots are not able to “extract” moisture from deeper layers of soil.
Why are these flowers so popular? Firstly, after abundant flowering, the plants retain the bright green color of their foliage almost until frost. Secondly, planting phlox subulate and caring for it are not particularly difficult. Even a novice gardener can cope with this task, and the reward for his efforts will be a blooming carpet in your flowerbed.
Conditions for growing flowers
Phlox subulate is a very unpretentious flower that can adapt to any conditions. It can grow both in southern latitudes and in regions with harsh climates. Not picky about soil composition.
However, in order for phloxes to delight with their long-lasting flowering, it is advisable to create conditions for them that are as close to natural as possible. Considering that in its homeland this flower grows on sandy or rocky hills, rocky slopes, this means that the soil should not be too fertile.
Before planting phlox subulate, it is important to know that it can grow in partial shade, but a riot of colors and flowers can only be seen if the flower is planted in a place sufficiently illuminated by sunlight.Phlox is a light-loving plant.
Thanks to their ancestors growing in the wild, the flowers easily tolerate short periods of drought. But too long a dry period immediately affects the appearance of the plant - the foliage becomes pale, faded and unattractive.
When choosing a site for planting phlox, it is important to take into account that stagnant moisture has a detrimental effect on plants. Therefore, areas with groundwater close to the surface, as well as those where melt and rainwater stagnate in the spring, are unsuitable for growing flowers.
In places with excess moisture they grow very slowly, the root system weakens, and in general the plant looks sick and weak. The effect of a green and floral carpet is very difficult to achieve. Most often, phlox inevitably die in such areas. To correct this drawback, when preparing the soil for planting, you can add sand to the soil and raise the flower bed by 25-30 cm.
When planting perennial phlox subulates, the plants that were previously grown in the selected area are of great importance. The best precursors for flowers will be plants that are resistant to nematodes: tagetes, calendula, marigolds, careopsis, perennial lawn grasses, and others.
Under no circumstances should phlox be planted in areas where strawberries, wild strawberries, garlic and other crops that are not resistant to nematodes previously grew.
It is advisable to set aside for planting phlox those areas where there is the most snow in winter.In this case, you will not need to worry about covering the flowers for the winter. A blanket of snow will sufficiently cover your plants and save them from freezing.
This type of phlox grows well in poor, loose and dry soils. When growing flowers on fertile, oily soils, high growth of green mass is observed, but flowering is very sparse, and the flowers become small and pale.
The acidity of the soil should be closer to neutral. Acidic soils need to be limed, alkaline soils need to be deoxidized.
How to propagate flowers correctly
The easiest and most affordable way to propagate phlox is by dividing the bush. The best time for this procedure is early spring. Old, overgrown bushes are dug up, divided into several small ones, the soil is prepared for planting, and the plants are planted.
The distance between flowers depends on the height of the plants, the optimal step is from 20 to 40 cm. All varieties of subulate phlox grow quickly. And literally in a year, a dense, emerald carpet will grow on your flower beds.
You can also plant moss carnation using stem cuttings. The root system of phlox consists of long, stiff “threads” with nodes at regular intervals.
To obtain high-quality material, you need to carefully cut the root cuttings. It is important that on each piece of root there are 1-2 full nodes with small roots. Root cuttings of phlox need to be cut in the spring, before the budding phase begins.
You can simply separate several young shoots from the mother plant.Young shoots are separated from the rhizome. It is desirable that the length of the roots be at least 4-6 cm. Such phlox cuttings take root well and grow well by autumn.
It is advisable to plant cuttings of rare, valuable varieties of subulate phlox in small boxes or pots. Plantings must be placed in the shade until rooting, inspected daily and, as necessary, watered with warm, settled water. You can transplant shoots into open ground only closer to autumn, at the end of August - beginning of September.
Unlike other species, phlox subulate is rarely grown from seeds for the reason that most varieties are perennial hybrids that are not capable of producing full-fledged seeds capable of reproduction.
Those rare phloxes that do reproduce by seed are planted in open ground in the fall or grown by seedlings. Sowing of seeds is carried out in late February - early March. Seedlings should be picked at the stage of 2-3 true leaves. In spring, young plants are planted in open ground, observing generally accepted standards for planting and caring for awl-shaped phlox (in the photo below you can see what flower seedlings look like).
Rules for planting and subsequent care
Considering the characteristics of the growth and development of the root system of phlox, it is important to properly prepare the soil. Before planting, you need to carefully dig up the area, selecting the roots of the weeds. Subsequently, when caring for phlox, it is difficult to weed.
The root system of flowers is concentrated at a depth of 10-15 cm.Later, when weeding, you can pull out the flowers along with the weeds. Therefore, the main step in caring for perennial phlox is timely weeding.
The algorithm for planting phlox awl-shaped will look like this:
- in the prepared area, make planting holes in increments of 20-30 cm;
- place the shoots in the hole;
- fill the holes with soil and compact the soil a little;
- Water the plants generously.
If the weather is hot outside, shade the plantings for 3-4 days. This time will be enough for the phlox to take root. After 1-2 years, several young shoots will turn into a green carpet covering the ground.
If you want to speed up the growth process, you can from time to time lay out the growing stems in different directions, lightly pinning them to the ground or sprinkling them with a small amount of soil.
Plants begin to bloom in the first year after planting. At first the flowering is sparse. But every year, as the green mass grows, the splendor of flowering only increases.
How to care for flowers
After planting subulate perennial phloxes, care consists of carrying out the usual activities for every gardener:
- watering as needed;
- feeding according to the scheme;
- regular weeding.
Flowers need to be watered as needed. Look at the condition of the soil. As soon as it becomes dry, at a depth of 2-3 cm, moisten the flower garden. Plants do not require abundant watering, as fungal diseases quickly develop when overwatered.
You can feed phlox three times during the season.But keep in mind that when there is excess fertilizer in the soil, plants practically stop blooming, directing all their energy to the growth of green mass.
So you need to fertilize flowers only if the soil is really very poor. The recommended feeding scheme is as follows:
- immediately before the start of flowering and after the last petals have flown around, you can feed the subulate phloxes with nitrogen-potassium fertilizer;
- in mid-July - early August, apply complex mineral fertilizer to the soil.
If you think that the plants look pale, grow poorly and bloom poorly, you can fertilize the phlox with an ash solution. To prepare this mixture, you need to pour 300-400 g of wood ash with water in the amount of 2 liters, put on fire and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, strain and dilute the solution in a bucket of water.
This mixture will not only enrich the soil, but will also help as a preventive measure against insect pests.
You need to weed the flower garden as often as possible, without giving the weeds the opportunity to grow.
With the right choice of a suitable location and proper care after planting perennial awl-shaped phloxes, emerald green carpets will remain decorative for 5-6 years.
Creeping varieties have high frost resistance. However, in warm winters with heavy snowfalls, the stems and foliage may rot in places. By spring, plants lose their attractive decorative appearance.But if the rules of agricultural technology and care are followed, moss carnations quickly recover and again delight the eye with a green carpet and abundant flowering.
Once every 5-6 years, flowers need to be rejuvenated. The immunity of older plants is significantly reduced, and they get sick more and more often. Over time, the root system becomes woody, the previously lush and thick carpet becomes faded, bare areas appear, and the bushes gradually lose their brightness and decorativeness. Age also affects flowering - flowers gradually become smaller and lose their brightness. Over time, varietal characteristics may be irretrievably lost.
Pests and diseases
Of the diseases for phlox, powdery mildew is the most dangerous. Regular preventative spraying will help prevent the disease.
Caterpillars are very fond of moss carnations. The appearance of pests affects the curling leaves covered with a brown coating. Caterpillars, as a rule, damage the stems of flowers, which without timely intervention can lead to the inevitable death of flowers.
Affected plants must be immediately removed from the site, and it is not advisable to plant flowers in this place for 3-4 years.
The most common causes of disease and attacks by insect pests are:
- dense plantings and poor ventilation;
- lack or excess of moisture;
- excess fertilizer;
- non-compliance with recommendations regarding fertilizing.
Therefore, you should not plant moss carnations between tall flowers, close to walls and solid fences, or too close to each other.
The author of the video will tell you about some varieties of awl-shaped phlox and their characteristics.
Conclusion
The popularity of awl-shaped phlox is growing steadily. And not only because it is very easy to grow unpretentious, perennial flowers. The second reason lies in the versatility of the plant. After all, they can be grown not only in flower beds and flower beds, but also in pots, containers, boxes, and flowerpots. With their help, you can create various landscape design compositions, combine them with other plants and flowers, and improve balconies and loggias, verandas and gazebos. With a minimum of effort, you can enjoy a bright, blooming carpet stretching out at your feet every spring.
