The birthplace of panicled or garden phlox is the forests of North America. These plants have a high straight stem with a length of forty centimeters to one and a half meters. Flowers are five-petalled, fragrant, with a diameter of up to three centimeters. They combine into spherical inflorescences, reaching one meter in diameter. Phlox blooms from early summer to early autumn. The leaves of the plant are green, narrow, have an elongated lanceolate shape. Their length is up to ten centimeters.
Description of phlox Vladimir
The height of an adult plant is from seventy to eighty centimeters. Strong bushes with sturdy stems. Phlox Vladimir tolerates wintering well and is resistant to disease. The leaves are green in color. The inflorescence is round-conical in shape, reaches a diameter of twenty centimeters. Flowers a little larger than five centimeters are light pink in color. Along the edges of the petals there is a light border.
Phloxes of this variety have beautiful large flowers. They grow quickly and breed well. The variety is classified as medium late and late. At numerous exhibitions, reviews about phlox Vladimir were only positive. Visitors were impressed by the bright colors and undemanding care. The phlox Vladimir photo below will allow you to appreciate the beauty and tenderness of this amazing plant.
Environmental requirements
Phlox Vladimir is undemanding to light and can grow well both in sunny and in poorly shaded places. Avoid direct sunlight in the middle of the day. To grow high varieties, you need to choose places that are protected from the wind.
Panicled phlox prefer greasy humus soil that retains moisture well. The medium should be neutral or slightly acidic. These perennials tolerate low temperatures well.
Landing Features
It is necessary to prepare the soil for planting phlox in the fall. Dig the chosen place and fertilize it with peat or humus. You can use purchased fertilizers of long action in granules. After that, the soil is leveled with a rake. With the onset of phlox growth, flower beds need periodic weeding.
Landing is done in the spring or at the very beginning of autumn. Cloudy days are best suited for this. Plants are planted at intervals of about forty centimeters. The soil needs to be well moistened. The size of the hole for planting should exceed the size of a clod of earth on the roots twice. The bottom of the hole is lined with drainage. Around the planted plant form a recess that will retain rainwater.
Care requirements
Every spring, you need to loosen the soil around the plantings in order to ensure sufficient air flow to the root system. Loosening is convenient to combine with weeding. Free soil is best covered with organic mulch. It, in addition to its main function, will provide plants with additional nutrition, and also make it difficult to evaporate moisture.
Panicled phloxes are extremely sensitive to a lack of moisture, so they need regular watering throughout the season. During watering, it is necessary to avoid dropping water on the leaves, as this increases the likelihood of powdery mildew. If the weather is often rainy in the summer, you need to spray with special means for the prevention of diseases.
Phlox need a transplant every five years, during which time they deplete the soil. In good conditions and with proper care, panicled phlox can bloom profusely for ten to fifteen years.
Pruning
To stimulate phlox to multiply, pruning is performed in spring. In early summer, a third of the stems are cut to half length, which helps to extend the flowering period. Faded inflorescences are removed, as they weaken the plant and prevent the appearance of new flowers. When transplanting phlox to a new place, the plant is cut in half. This adversely affects flowering, but contributes to easier rooting.
Phlox reproduction methods
Reproduction by dividing the bush. In the spring, the bush is dug up and divided into several parts. You need to do this with your hands, and not with a shovel, otherwise microbes will fall on the damaged areas. You can also use a sharp clean knife. Planting separated roots should be done as quickly as possible.
Reproduction by root cuttings. At the end of the year (November, December) panicled phlox can be propagated by dividing the roots. Carrying out this procedure in the winter reduces the likelihood of infection with nematodes.
The roots of the plant are carefully removed from the ground, after which they are cut just below the neck and divided into parts about five centimeters long. For reproduction, up to a third of the roots can be distinguished, after the procedure, the plant regenerates with ease.
Separated parts of the rhizome are placed in a container and covered with sterile loose soil (a mixture of peat and vermiculite), and sprinkled with a thin layer of earth on top. The container is stored at a temperature of +12 ° C in winter.
At this time, soil moisture is maintained at a sufficient level. Drying and excessive moisture should be avoided. After the first shoots appear seedlings need light. New roots grow most quickly at an air temperature of 22 - 26 ° C.
By spring, seedlings should be well rooted, and each seedling should have at least four leaves. Such cuttings can already be planted in separate pots. Care for them is the same as for ordinary seedlings. They need light and regular watering.
Propagation by apical cuttings. Spend from April to June, depending on the weather. Young cuttings are extremely sensitive to a lack of moisture, so before cutting, you need to water an adult plant well, and cover the cuttings after planting from the sun. And rooting will take a little more than a month.
Diseases and Pests
Phlox is quite resistant to disease. Such ailments can affect them:
- Downy mildew. In summer, in rainy weather, with insufficient ventilation, the leaves may become white. It is necessary as quickly as possible to remove the parts of the plant affected by the fungus and spray the phlox with fungicide.
- Nematodes. Symptoms of damage: deformation of the leaves and a slowdown in the growth of phlox. Unfortunately, there are no effective methods for ridding plants of these parasites; flowers will have to be destroyed. On the affected flowerbed, calendula should be planted for three seasons. These flowers repel nematodes.
- Gray mold. Phlox flowers are covered with a gray coating. Affected parts of plants are removed and destroyed. The affected plant itself and its neighbors are sprayed with a fungicide.