General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9b
Plant Height: 12 - 24 inches
Plant Spread: 6 - 12 inches
Fruit: Other: Seeds are carried inside a capsule, which splits open when ripe and throws the seeds away from the parent plant.
Fruiting Time: Summer
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: Lavender
Pink
White
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Uses: Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Resistances: Powdery Mildew
Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Stratify seeds: Seeds need alternating periods of warm and cold stratification to germinate
Suitable for wintersowing
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Division
Pollinators: Moths and Butterflies
Birds
Bumblebees

Image
Common names
  • Prairie phlox
  • Downy phlox
  • Fragrant phlox

Photo Gallery
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2019-04-29
Location: Molly Hollar Wildscape Arlinton, Texas.
Date: Spring 2011
Growing at Molly Hollar Wildscape.
Location: My yard in Arlington, Texas.
Date: 2012-04-08
Close up of flower.
Location: St Louis - MoBOT
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2017-04-07
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2017-04-10
Location: Northeastern Texas
Date: April 16, 2010
A native wildflower often found growing beneath the oak trees
Location: North Central TX Zone 8a
Date: 2018-03-21
Prairie Phlox Coming Back To Life
Location: Northeastern Texas
Date: April 16, 2010
A wildflower often found growing beneath the oak trees.

Date: 2003-04-01
Photo: Steven J. Baskauf (http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/)

Credit: Underpraha | Own work
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2017-03-21

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: North Creek Nursery in Landenberg, PA
Date: 2019-06-11
small patch in demonstration garden
This plant is tagged in:
Image Image

Comments:
  • 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.
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Jan 15, 2012 6:05 AM concerning plant:
    Prairie Phlox, which is native in woods and meadows from the Rocky Mountains east to New York and Connecticut, has shiny narrow leaves and forms sprawling clumps 1 foot or more in height/length. Flowers are pinkish-lavender from mid-spring into summer. Seems to grow equally well in moist well-drained soil as in quite dry places. Full sun or light shade is best. Spreads fairly quickly by stolons and by seed.

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