Posted by
Cyclaminist (Minneapolis, Minnesota - Zone 5a) on Apr 30, 2016 2:37 PM concerning plant:
Prairie phlox has a lot of variation in the color and shape of the petals, so if you want a nice form, you should only buy plants that are blooming. My first prairie phlox, which wasn't blooming when I bought it, turned out to have light pink flowers that aren't very spectacular. The nicest forms, in my opinion, have deeper pink petals and dark markings around the mouth of the flower. There is also variation in petal size: wider petals are showier at a distance, while narrower petals make the flower more interesting.
The flowers are fragrant, and if you've got garden phlox (mid- or late-summer-blooming) or woodland phlox (spring-blooming), this is a great plant to extend the season of phlox fragrance. It blooms in between the bloom times of the two other species.
Phlox is self-incompatible: that means that the flowers will not be fertilized and produce seed unless pollen is transferred from another phlox plant that is different genetically. In my garden, I can attest to this, because I bought just one plant and never got any seed. Since I want it to self-seed, I got several more plants. Like all phlox, seed is in a round pod that splits open when ripe, and catapults the seed away from the parent plant.
Phlox produces nectar at the bottom of the floral tube and pollen on anthers near the opening of the floral tube. Because of the long floral tubes, only insects with long tongues can drink the nectar. That includes butterflies and very long-tongued bees (bumblebees). Shorter-tongued bees may try in vain to reach nectar, and shorter-tongued bees and flies may occasionally feed on the pollen, which is near the end of the floral tube.
The flower is ideal for butterflies because it has a large landing pad (the whorl of five petal tips on the end of the floral tube) and their tongues are more than long enough to reach down the tube, and they are the most effective pollinators. When they reach into the flower with their long tongues (proboscises), their tongue may pick up pollen, and if they visit another phlox flower that is different genetically and insert their tongue, they may touch that flower's stigma and transfer some pollen, which will fertilize the ovary and allow it to produce seed.