Saturday, March 7, 2009

I'LL HAVE A PHLOX COCKTAIL ON THE ROCKS...MAKE IT A DOUBLE

Okay don't get too excited. This is not a double phlox I am writing about, but the new Cocktail series of garden phlox by hybridizer Jan Verschoor (well known in hybridizing of veronica and phlox). He brews up mixtures we didn't even know we HAD to have.

One of the standouts in this series is Sherbet Cocktail. Who knew we needed a yellow phlox?  Obviously... Jan knew.





This series boasts a shorter height (around 20"), along with superior mildew resistance.  They are touted to be more floriferous than the old-fashioned garden phlox with larger flowers.

I've had very good luck with phlox here in my amended sand and in my clay gardens in Pennsylvania. I am surprised they are not used more here in the south. They bloom through the heat of summer and into autumn in my gardens in North Carolina. I don't think I would ever have a garden without them. They are very easy to grow and don't really require much care except a shearing now and then to keep them blooming.

Along with Sherbet Cocktail, here are the new "cool drinks in the heat of summer" phlox that John has brought into our greenhouses this spring.


Fondant Fancy


Cosmopolitan



Classic Cassis


Grenadine Dream

Pina Colada


Watermelon Punch

Purple Kiss

  And two others by Jan Verschoor that are of more average height (24"-30") but are lovely in their own right.


Peppermint Twist


Swirly Burley


These last two new phlox are by a different hybridizer.


Eden's Crush is fragrant



and Goldmine is priceless!

3 comments:

Tink said...

Oh my goodness they are all so gorgeous. I'll take them all and I'll have mine on the rocks..

Dawn Fine said...

The flowers are very flowery.

Tink said...

Those cocktail mixes are gorgeous. I'll take three, straight up on the rocks..