I'm wondering about garden phlox, I've never grown it and know nothing about it. I would REALLY like to get some of the old wild kind that grows along the roads here, it is purple. Does anyone know its name? and would it re-seed? Be invasive? Does it get mildew? Can I dig some up or will it kill it, does it transplant ok? I can probably find some on my dh old homeplace but I don't know the best time to dig it?

Do you mean Dame's Rocket? Some states have banned sales of it as it is considered invasive. I love it and live in a state where you purchase it. In the spring, I bought a 1/4 pound bag of it. I have babies coming up everywhere. I think I got the seeds from Eden Brothers. I've never tried transplanting it, though.

http://grownative.org/plant-pi...

ok well I found this which answered some of my questions, but I still don't know where to buy/get the plant. or if it will reseed like crazy, I guess just cut the heads off before the seed drops? It does say to watch for mildew on the plants, are there resistant varieties? Most of the hybridized flowers I've tried I didn't like and the old wild ones look better to me. Like daisies and black eyed susans ect.

My old fashion phlox are just starting to bloom well
They do some reseeding but if you are OK with black-eyed susan then the phlox should be to your liking

As for mildew it normally happens to the plants when they get crowed with out air circulation , or so late in the season for me If they look too bad I just cut them down.

Does the mildew kill the plant or spread to other plants?
Cinda, that looks like what I am looking for, it does get tall about 3'?
Does it smell?

There is a slight sweet smell , the butterflies love it
The mildew looks bad but does not kill the plant . As far as spreading to other flowers I can not say for sure , I have not noticed it doing so but the nearby plants do not seem to be the mildew type.

Height depends on the year and rain amount . I do cut some down by about a foot 1st of July to stagger the blooms . You can also deadhead fading blooms to have re-flower till frost.

I have the white variety. It has a nice fragrance and isn't bothered much by mildew. It does get kind of ratty looking on the lower end (brown shrively), so best to plant behind something that will cover that. It has not reseeded at all for me, just thickened up the clump over the years.