It’s a great year for Phlox paniculata plants. Even some cultivars that I left for dead (after they performed miserably for several summers) have shot up out of nowhere and look as healthy and as happy as can be.
The two cultivars I’m about to mention next have never given me any trouble. ‘Spinners” and “Twister” each have peppermint-candy-like, pink-and-white bi-color flowers, but in reverse of one another.
‘Spinners’ is the taller of the two varieties. It grows 30 inches with bright-pink flowers that have a white edge:
‘Twister’ grows about half that tall (12-16″). The flowers are white and look as though someone brushed a little pink star in the middle of each one.
Both plants grow in my north-facing front yard and both have survived the last two severe winters without any setbacks. That’s a ringing endorsement for hardiness because I had to replace more than a dozen perennials in that area this spring. ‘Spinners’ is hardy to Zone 3 and ‘Twister’ is hardy to Zone 4.
They also have a good resistance to powdery mildew. June and July were very rainy and moist, but ‘Spinners’ and ‘Twister’ still have green, healthy leaves. Meanwhile some of my bee balms have leaves that are more white than green at this point.
‘Twister’ and ‘Spinners’ are perfect cottage garden plants. Native coneflowers and liatris (blazing star) make excellent companions. My plants are also growing with white Oriental lilies and a cherry-pink phlox.
I’ve grown ‘Spinners’ for 5 years and ‘Twister’ for 3 years and would highly recommend either of these lovely plants for the perennial border.
2 comments
Love your phlox. Don’t know if our garden centres carry these beauties. I have David, a white, and three others a blue, pink and red. But they are late boomers here. They will certainly be late this year. The overall worst July on record. Looking on the bright side temperatures have been about 18 C the last three days. James
I hope August will be a much better month for you and your fellow gardeners!
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