The Creeping Phlox is a flowering plant scientifically known as Phlox stolonifera. It is an ideal ground cover found in rock gardens and the cracks of stone walls.
If you are considering planting a creeping phlox in your garden, you will discover that these blooms, with their gentle pastel hues, add a welcoming look to your garden.
This vibrant, semi-evergreen phlox is a native of the Central and Eastern United States. This perennial plant blooms from late spring to early summer. It has bunches of aromatic, five-petal flowers that measure over an inch across.
Pollinators like bees and butterflies find this phlox attractive. After they bloom, the foliage stays fresh and intact throughout most of the year before dying in the winter.
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Keys To Getting A Creeping Phlox To Bloom
If you have just gotten your Creeping Phlox, you can expect it to bloom from around middle to late spring. Sometimes even to early summer, but this depends on the climate. And this will go on for several weeks (6 weeks at most), producing large groupings of sweetly smelling flowers.
Exposing it to adequate light and following a regular fertilization schedule are keys to consistent and effective blooming of the Creeping Phlox. Also, you should avoid pruning the Creeping Phlox during its blooming period to prevent the loss of flower buds. You can prune it once the plant has reached its adult stage.
Variants Of The Creeping Phlox
- Candy Stripe Creeping Phlox
Throughout springtime, you can expect your Candy Stripe to be engulfed in white flowers with spectacular starry pink stripes. The flowers’ scarlet eyes and white borders make them appear even more striking.
- Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox
From early to late spring, your Emerald Blue will be enveloped in gorgeous lavender star-shaped flowers at the endpoints of the stems.
Creeping Phlox Bloom Time
You can look forward to the blooming of your creeping phlox during the middle and late spring season for 3 to 4 weeks. These phlox plants can even hold their blooms for a month or up to 6 weeks, depending on the temperature (if it is cool and pleasant). However, creeping phlox bloom time ends in six weeks.
From April to June, you will see them begin to emit stunning bright colors, like dark red, white, pink, or bluish-purple.
Flowering In The Summer
When summer arrives, you will notice that your creeping phlox becomes discolored and brown. You shouldn’t be worried, as this event marks the end of their developmental phase and the end of their blooming season.
Blooming creeping phlox generally do not thrive in the summer because the climate is simply too hot for them.
However, once established as a full-grown flower plant, creeping phlox can withstand hot, dry conditions better than other phlox variants.
Unwelcome Pests
Although creeping phlox is less vulnerable to pests and fungal diseases than other phlox variants, spider mites can be a common problem in certain desert-like climates.
Using insecticidal soaps has helped me a great deal with this problem. You can also spray these plants regularly with water to eliminate the mites and keep them under control.
Creeping phlox plants are also vulnerable to Folia Nematodes, a microscopic worm-like organism that causes black and brown lesions on the leaves of plants.
The trouble is that these particular pests are extremely difficult to control. As a result, if you have an infected Phlox plant, you must remove them and clean your area of any remains.
Other Common Creeping Phlox Issues
When you grow the creeping phlox in favorable conditions, it doesn’t have many problems, as it is less vulnerable than its other variants. However, an unsuitable environment can lead to common issues that include:
1. Blooming Issues
Poor blooming on a creeping phlox plant is mostly caused by environmental factors, particularly a lack of light. Too much nitrogen in the soil will promote foliage growth instead of flower buds, causing blooming problems.
Furthermore, if flowering on an established plant has decreased, this is often means that you need to divide the plant into two or more smaller plants so that your Phlox can bloom abundantly once more.
2. Yellow Leaves
Yellow leaves can be a sign of parasites on the plant. It may also signify the lack of proper environmental conditions such as watering and light. Many people overwater their creeping phlox which is the most common cause of yellow leaves.
You need to ensure that you don’t keep your creeping phlox in the shade for too long and that its soil draining conditions are good. If you’ve tried everything you can think of and are still having issues do not be afraid to relocate your phlox if it refuses to flourish properly.
Creeping Phlox Bloom Time Summarized:
- When: Middle to Late Spring (April – June)
- How Long: 3 – 6 weeks