Phlox Drummond: growing from seeds, when to plant

Content

1 Story
2 Morphology
3 Varieties
4 Growing from seeds
- 4.1 Sowing seedlings
- 4.2 Sowing in the ground
5 Care
6 Diseases and pests
7 Use in design

Phlox is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Polemoniaceae family. In Russia, only one species of these wild plants is found - Siberian phlox. It grows in mountainous areas, spreading along gorges and mountain steeps. Its main habitat is North America. There are 85 varieties of phlox, of which about 40 species are cultivated. The seeds of wild plants came to Europe in the 18th century. At the same time, their mass cultivation began. The only annual type of phlox that we will talk about today is the Drummond phlox, which you see in the photo.

Story

Starting from the middle of the 18th century, Drummond's phlox became popular not only in America, but also in European countries, this became possible thanks to the traveler from England Henry Drummond, who, while in the American state of Texas, discovered an unusual flower and sent its seeds to his English relatives, who adored unusual plants. Experiments and experiences with the flower were further developed. As a result, several varieties of annual phlox were obtained, different in color and shape of flowers.

On a note! All varieties of this type of phlox began to be called Drummond phlox, apparently in honor of the English botanist.

The word phlox is translated from Greek as “flame”; if you combine these two words, you get Drummond’s flame.

Many years have passed since the discovery of a wild form of Phlox Drummond. During this time, plant breeders involved in plant cultivation have achieved significant results in developing new varieties. About two dozen types of annual Drummond phlox already decorate gardens and parks, flower beds and alleys. Amateur flower growers and garden landscape designers plant them in their own unique compositions.

Morphology

The structure of such plants has indicators common to all varieties:

Root - forms many branched appendages, strong, superficial.
The stems are erect, sticky and branched, covered with small sparse hairs.
The leaves are alternate, their shape is elongated oval or lanceolate, they have sharp ends, the upper leaves lie close to the stem.
The racemes are wide and dense, the perianth has a 5-lobed bend, turning into a tapering tube.
Drummond phlox flowers are bright, small in size, only up to 4 cm in diameter, have different monochrome colors, or a combination of 2-3 shades.
The fruit is a small oval capsule.

Drummond phlox blooms for a long time, from May until the onset of serious cold weather in October. The varietal characteristics of phlox may differ slightly in the shape of the leaves, the size, structure and color of the petals, and the timing of the beginning and continuation of flowering.

Varieties

Drummond's phlox variety "Caramel": a highly branched bush, reaches a height of 40-60 cm, the flowers are caramel-golden in color, the middle of the flowers is raspberry-cherry, the petals have a trapezoidal shape, the edges are rounded and smooth.

Drummond's phlox variety "Chanel": height no more than 30 cm, double flowers, medium in size (up to 3 cm), blooms densely, multi-layered petals, do not fade in bright sun, color is almost monochrome in pink tones.

Drummond phlox variety “Twinkling Star”: one of the representatives of the star varieties, of which there are more than a dozen species in the variety of petal colors, the shape of the flower clearly resembles a stylized shining star, the tricolor petals are divided into many pointed lobes, some of which are thin and elongated. The flower size is about 2-3 cm, but with their large number and unusual appearance they attract attention.

Growing from seeds

All Drummond phlox reproduce only by seeds, as it is an annual crop. They can be sown directly into the ground if there is no need to speed up the onset of flowering. If desired, this process is significantly reduced, but first seedlings are grown from seeds.

Sowing seedlings

They begin to sow seeds in April; the Lunar calendar can tell you which days to do this; choose days favorable for planting flowers:

prepared soil for flowers is poured into sterile containers for seedlings, not reaching the top edge by 2 cm;
moisten the soil with warm water, adding (if desired) a little growth stimulator;
phlox seeds are sown in a certain order or sprinkled randomly, this is not so important;
there is no need to press the seeds, just pour the same substrate on top with a layer thickness of 1-1.5 cm;
It is better to water through a strainer or from a watering can with small holes so that the seeds do not move out of place and do not get together in one heap;
after watering, you need to cover the container with plastic wrap, preferably black, so that under the influence of light the balance of development of the root and apical parts of the sprout is not disrupted;
Every day the film is removed for a few minutes to ventilate the plantings; when the substrate dries, the soil must be moistened;
after a week or a little more, when the cotyledon leaves appear, the film is removed completely, the container can now be placed closer to the light;
when 2-3 main leaves grow, phlox sprouts dive and plant each plant in separate pots;
after transplantation, some time must pass for the phlox seedlings to take root in a new place; if the seedling has successfully passed this stage, reward it by feeding it with nitrogen fertilizers to accelerate growth;
in the future, the usual care of the seedlings is carried out: watering, removing wilted leaves, fertilizing;
to form a more lush and compact plant, after the 6th leaf has grown, the top is pinched;
hardening of phlox seedlings is carried out a month before planting the seedlings in the ground, taking them out into the open air for 1-2 hours a day, each time increasing the initial duration;
Ready-made phlox seedlings can be planted in the ground in May, when the weather is quite warm.

Sowing in the ground

Seedlings are planted in open flower beds or greenhouses in April or May, depending on the climatic conditions of the region. If these are the southern regions, and you are in no hurry to get flowers, then Drummond phlox seeds are sown directly into the ground at the same time. Phlox flowering will begin a month later, but you will be freed from the process of growing seedlings. In this case, we recommend that you comply with the following conditions:

If you sowed the seeds in the simplest way - scattering them around the flowerbed, then when friendly shoots appear, thin out the plantings. Sprouts located close to each other will greatly interfere with the development and flowering of neighboring seedlings in the future. Remove the weakest plants carefully, holding the strong shoot near the root.
If you decide to grow tall Drummond phlox (up to 60 cm) and dwarf varieties (up to 20 cm) in the same flower bed, do it in such a way that the tall ones do not subsequently shade the short-growing neighbors.
Tall phloxes should be sown a month earlier so that they bloom at the same time as the dwarf plants.
According to experienced gardeners, it is possible to sow Drummond phlox seeds in open ground before winter. They tolerate wintering well, and in the spring they sprout early and vigorously. In this case, a special mixture of Tapestry seeds is very suitable. It contains phloxes of the most rainbow colors. In the photo below you see a flowerbed with these already mature flowers.

We invite you to watch the video, which is located at the end of the page, it shows how to properly sow Drummond phlox seeds, here you will get practical experience and some tips from an experienced gardener.

Care

Phloxes are not picky in their care, they will not cause any special problems for gardeners, you just need to carry out the usual measures for caring for garden plantings:

timely watering if the soil under the flowers is dry;
fight against weeds, constant removal of wilted inflorescences so that the formation of new ovaries is not inhibited;
loosening the soil for better air supply to the roots of the plant;
fertilizing combined with watering - twice a month;
disease prevention, spraying plantings with chemicals against pests, if they are present in large quantities.

Flower growers and amateur gardeners perform such work all the time, without considering it a burdensome problem.

Diseases and pests

Conscientious producers of seed material treat them with antifungal agents before packing seeds into packages. If you don’t trust them, you can protect the seedlings yourself by treating the seeds before sowing in a solution of potassium permanganate, soaking them for 30 minutes. The solution should not be highly concentrated.

It will be more difficult to get rid of pests that hide in the ground, attacking phlox before or during flowering. These include:

different types of filamentous microscopic worms: if plants infected with worms are found, they should be immediately removed from the flowerbed, and the soil should be treated with chemicals;
slugs and caterpillars that eat the leaves and flowers of phlox: you need to remove visible pests manually, sprinkle the flowerbed with wood ash, tobacco chips or lime.

Advice! It is better to carry out preventive work a few days before planting seeds or phlox seedlings in the ground. For this purpose, special tools are used that are commercially available. Then follow the instructions on the packages.

Use in design

Bright and multi-colored Drummond phlox can be used in interior and exterior design. Citizens decorate their apartments, balconies and loggias with them. Owners of country houses and estates use them in landscape design when decorating house facades, paths, and alpine slides. Summer residents on their small plots also allocate places for them in flower beds.Villagers plant them in their front gardens.

This flower will never interfere anywhere, will not upset you with its appearance, but will only delight those around you with its beauty, abundant flowering, rainbow colors and divine aroma.

If you have a free plot of land, even in the front garden under the balcony, we recommend planting phlox there, you won’t regret it. The aroma of these amazing flowers will wake you up in the morning, lift your spirits and add good spirits.