Phlox, Drummond phlox, annual phlox, five-color plum, grass oleander, campanula pink, foreign plum flower, small foreign flower, small sky-blue hydrangea

Scientific name: Phlox drummondii

Aliases: phlox flower, phlox bloom, five-color plum, grass oleander, campanula pink, foreign plum flower, small foreign flower, small sky-blue hydrangea

Family and genus: Polemoniaceae, Phlox genus

Origin: native to southern North America, now widely cultivated in countries around the world.

Origin of the name:

The genus name Phlox means flame, because the original species of phlox has red flowers. The species name honors Drummond.

Morphological characteristics:

Plant height 15 to 45 cm. Stems erect, much branched, with glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, basal leaves opposite, broadly ovate, oblong or needle-shaped, 2 to 7.5 cm long, apex acute or abruptly pointed, base gradually narrowed or slightly clasping the stem, margin entire, upper surface with soft hairs, lower surface with soft hairs only on the glands, leaves sessile, cyme terminal, with short soft hairs; bracts and bracteoles linear; calyx tubular, lobes linear, outside with soft hairs; corolla salverform, diameter 2 to 2.5 cm, lobes rounded, stamens not exserted, flower color of the original species is rose red, flowering period May-June. Capsule elliptical, with persistent sepals. Seeds oblong, convex on the back, flat on the ventral side, brown. Seed germination capacity can be maintained for two years, thousand-grain weight 1.55 g.

There are many horticultural types, divided by flower color:

One flower one color, including white, goose yellow, various shades of red-purple, as well as light purple and deep purple.

One flower two colors, including inner and outer bicolor, tube and limb bicolor, throat with spots, limb with stripes, limb with a white five-pointed star-shaped patch in the middle, etc.;

One flower three colors, including rose red with a white base and yellow center, or purple-red with a white center and blue spots, etc. Divided by petal type: round-petaled type, star-petaled type, fringed-petaled type, radiate type, and in addition there are tall types and dwarf types, etc.

Phlox cultivars:

'Palona' dwarf cultivar, suitable for small pot cultivation. Plant form round and neat, strong branching ability at the base, low and trailing, suitable for pot flowers or flower beds.

Varieties:

Round-petaled variety var. rotundata, petal lobes large and broad, outline round.

Star-petaled variety var. stellaris, petal margins three-toothed, the middle tooth longer.

Fringed-petaled variety var. fimbriata, corolla lobe margins finely toothed.

Radiate variety var. radiata, corolla lobes lanceolate-oblong, apex pointed. It likes warmth, is slightly cold-tolerant, and dislikes extreme heat.

In the North China region it can overwinter in a cold frame. It prefers well-drained, loose loam, is not drought-tolerant, and dislikes waterlogging.

Commonly propagated by sowing, autumn sowing in warm regions, spring sowing in cold regions, the suitable germination temperature is 15-20°C.

Seed viability can be maintained for 1-2 years. Sown in autumn, after one transplanting of the seedlings, they can be transplanted to a cold frame to overwinter in early to mid-October, then moved to open field beds in early spring, fertilized in time, and can be planted out in mid-April.

The flowering period is relatively long. Capsules ripen unevenly; to prevent seeds from scattering, the inflorescence can be cut off when most capsules turn yellow, then dried and threshed.

Uses:

The phlox plant is short, with rich flower colors, and can be used as plant material for flower beds, flower borders and rock gardens, and can also be potted for indoor decoration. Taller cultivars can be used as cut flowers.

It has strong resistance to sulfur dioxide and also certain resistance to chlorine gas.