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Gardening experts say with confidence that you can plant phlox with a huge number of companion plants, creating excellent ensembles and compositions. These bright, showy flowers are annual and perennial, tall and creeping, and have different flowering periods. The richest variety of their varieties and colors opens up boundless scope for the designer's imagination.
The ideas for using phlox in landscape design are truly inexhaustible. You can focus on them or use them as a background. It looks great as an independent planting of one or more species, as well as their combination with other decorative and flowering plants. A well-thought-out composition with the participation of these flowers can be made in any style, from strict classics to cozy country, and will be an excellent solution for revitalizing a flower bed, garden or site.
Design planning features with perennial phlox
North America is considered the birthplace of phlox. In domestic ornamental gardening, these colorful lush plants gained popularity in the 19th century.
The word "phlox" is translated from Greek as "flame"
Landscapers love these plants, noting a number of inherent virtues:
- a variety of varieties of flowers, differing in color, height, shape of peduncles, etc.;
- lush and abundant flowering;
- unpretentiousness in flower care;
- universal purpose - the ability to use in gardens of any size and style;
- frost resistance;
- the ability to grow quickly and well;
- easy transplant even during the flowering period;
- quick getting used to new soil.
These plants do not bloom for very long. However, due to the correct combination of species with different budding periods, you can continuously admire them for almost five months a year.
Existing classifications will help you navigate the variegated variety of species and varieties and choose exactly those phloxes that you would like to see in your own garden design.
According to their shape and height, they are usually divided into three large groups:
- Shrub, when several dozen stems originate from one root. They are represented by tall, medium-sized and low-growing forms.
- Intermediate, or loose turf. These are forms with creeping stems, from which upright-growing shoots rise up.
- Creeping, or ground cover. During flowering, they look like a solid bright rug and can occupy a large area.
In accordance with the shape of the peduncles, phlox are most often:
- paniculate;
- spread out;
- subulate.
Their flowering periods can be designated as follows:
- early, when flowers appear in May;
- medium, if the first inflorescences open in June;
- late, allowing you to admire the flowers in July-September.
The variety of species, varieties and forms of perennial phlox is impressive
In order for phlox in garden design to remain lush and bright for a long time, while maintaining health and a beautiful decorative look, you need to remember some of the intricacies of caring for them:
- These flowers cannot grow in one place without transplanting for more than 6-8 years. By the end of this period, the plant is thoroughly weakened and loses its attractiveness. It should be rejuvenated from time to time by dividing the rhizome and seating the side parts.
- If the summers are dry and hot, these flowers definitely need regular abundant watering. Otherwise, the lower leaves will turn yellow and fall off, ugly exposing part of the stem.
- If the choice fell on varieties that are considered vulnerable to powdery mildew, it is better not to be lazy and timely prevent this disease.
- A correctly compiled fertilization schedule and correctly selected formulations will help them bloom for a long time and abundantly, decorating the garden.
What phlox are combined with
When planning a composition in the garden with the participation of phloxes, you need to select neighbors for them who will be satisfied with similar growing conditions:
- sunny or semi-shaded area, ideally with diffused light;
- the location of the planting on a small hill, excluding stagnation of water at the roots;
- providing an abundant amount of moisture;
- loose sandy or loamy soil enriched with peat or humus;
- slightly acidic or neutral soil reaction.
It is also important to take into account that phlox roots are powerful and branched, located close to the surface.
The structure of the root system of companion plants should be such as to exclude “competition” for moisture and nutrients within the framework of planting.
What flowers can be planted next to phlox
Now it is worth dwelling in more detail on those flowers and ornamental plants with which phloxes in the garden are most interestingly combined. A selection of photos will help to imagine how such compositions look in the design of the site.
Can phloxes of different colors be planted next to
One of the simplest and at the same time effective solutions is a combination of several varieties of phlox of different types, sizes and colors on a flower bed. When choosing which ones to plant next to each other, you need to pay attention to other details:
- how the flowers are colored - monotonous or combine two or more colors;
- how the shades are distributed - in the form of spots, stripes, edging;
- color intensity - gentle or, on the contrary, saturated, bright gamut;
- the shape of the petals is even, corrugated or wavy.
Experienced florists recommend avoiding sharp contrasts of varieties, trying to combine the palette harmoniously
You can also give preference to one color, combining its shades and tones in various options.
Examples of the use of phlox in the landscape design of a summer cottage are shown in the photo:
By placing high or medium-sized varieties in the center of the composition, and bringing low ones to the foreground, you can easily arrange a beautiful ceremonial flower garden
On a green lawn, a bright area made of monochromatic varieties of phlox of pink, red, white or purple flowers, or their combination, looks very impressive
Having planted strips of ground cover varieties nearby, it is easy to get a bright motley "carpet" of any shape and color
From compact, low forms of varieties, flowering borders near a green zone or path are best obtained
Paniculate phlox of several varieties with the same flowering period look great in the design of a rabatka or just in a group planting
Can phlox be planted next to roses
When deciding what to plant phlox with in the garden, it is worth considering the option of combining them with roses.It should be borne in mind that a magnificent beauty, being present in any composition, always acts as the main plant, and the task of the "companions" will be to successfully shade and emphasize it.
So, a thick carpet of creeping forms of these flowers, spread out at the foot of a bush rose, will make it look even more impressive. But the most common combinations of "garden queen" and phlox paniculate flowers.
If the roses are tall, such "companions" will be an excellent border, if low - they will be suitable as a background
The early varieties of phlox bloom at the same time as the roses, and the later ones will continue to decorate the composition even when the latter have already faded.
It is important that the coloration of the "companions" is well defined in order to avoid disharmony and the effect of variegation.
You can select plants "to match", combining pale pink, peach or yellow roses with phloxes of blue, lilac, dark blue flowers
Monochrome composition looks great when, for example, shades of delicate creamy white are chosen
The game of contrasts is also successful.
Combination of hydrangea and phlox
Undoubtedly, phloxes can become wonderful companions for hydrangeas.
The secret of the hydrangea's charm lies in the fact that it can organically fit into the composition of any style, however, partner plants will have to "set the tone" for the theme of the design of this corner of the garden.
When choosing a hydrangea bush to decorate a flower bed, it is advisable to give preference to low-growing varieties with narrow leaves. As for the shape and color of the inflorescences, there is a rich scope for the manifestation of imagination.
Treelike hydrangea combines well in mixborders with plants of different heights. The wide leaves of the hosta, planted in the foreground, will add decorativeness to the flower garden and cover the stems of paniculate phlox, the pink flowers of which, in turn, will sparkle with bright colors against the background of snow-white balls.
Another example of a combination of phlox and hydrangea in a landscape is shown in the photo. White inflorescences of Polar Bear hydrangea perfectly set off tall phlox, painted in contrasting lilac tones.
In addition, the caps of white phlox can themselves be very similar to a flowering panicle hydrangea. And, if you choose varieties of suitable shades, sizes and shapes, as well as those that match the flowering period, and just plant them side by side, you get a very interesting result.
The combination of phlox with other flowers in the flower bed
Phloxes in the garden are harmoniously combined with many flowers. Summarizing, a number of regularities can be noted. Early flowering subulate varieties look great in alpine hills and rockeries, in the design of borders around paths and lawns. Ground cover flowering perennials: saxifrage, cat's paw, alpine two-seed, carnation, periwinkle, aubrieta will successfully become "companions" for them.
Wonderful "companions" for phlox blooming in summer can be asters, veronica, highlander, geraniums, some varieties of bells
In the vicinity of the summer-autumn varieties, astilbe, basilis, lungwort, Siberian irises will wonderfully manifest themselves. A very good company for late-flowering phloxes will be spirea or Thunberg's dwarf barberry.
In combination with phlox, delphiniums, geleniums, somedago, lupins, pyrethrum, oriental poppy look spectacular
Such potential "companions" of these flowers as peonies and daylilies deserve special attention.
With peonies
Peonies on the site remain decorative from early spring to autumn frosts. If the varieties are selected successfully, their flowering can last for almost two months.
Most often, these plants are placed "in the parterre" or in the foreground of the composition. Even after the end of flowering, their carved leaves will serve as a magnificent backdrop for bright paniculate phlox, and the lush greenery of the bushes will cover the lower parts of the stems of the latter, which often lose their attractive appearance.
You can also plant phlox with peonies in a tall flower bed, like the one in the photo:
The edging, made of forget-me-nots and Turkish carnations, emphasizes the neatness of the shape and gives the flower garden a complete look
With daylilies
Perennial phloxes in landscape design perfectly coexist with daylilies. The photo below shows examples of successful compositions:
Daylilies, like phloxes, amaze with the variety of varieties and richness of colors. When planning a decorative planting, you need to take into account the compatibility of shades and the timing of flowering plants. If these conditions are met, a flower bed on which low daylilies complement tall varieties of multi-colored paniculate phlox can look very advantageous.
The "finest hour" of the duet of these flowers usually comes in the second half of summer. Both those and others at this time appear in all their glory. Large multi-level flower beds and mixborders, where they play a leading role, look great from a distance, so they will be a great decoration for spacious territories and parks.
But at the same time, even a small neat flower garden with these plants may well become the "highlight" of a small area, if you place it, for example, against the wall of a country house.
Agrotechnical conditions for growing phlox and daylilies are very similar, moreover, neither one nor the other flower can be called capricious. Therefore, the key to their successful combination will be the harmony of shades and well-chosen height.
What ornamental plants phlox are combined with
It is worth noting that not only flowers can be used as "companions" of phlox in the design of the site. The photo below shows the embodiment of great ideas with the participation of ornamental plants.
Ground cover subulate phloxes attract the eye in the central tier of a multi-level flower bed. The brightness and beauty of their flowering is emphasized by fancy rosettes. ornamental cabbage and the colorful red-brown foliage of the Thunberg barberry.
A cloud of small delicate flowers of phlox spread out will revive a secluded corner of the garden in the company of ferns and hosts
Groups of multi-colored paniculate phlox are wonderfully combined in a colorful mixborder with Hoopsie spruce, astrantia, lilies and roses
Dwarf shrubs - euonymus, cotoneaster, some types of spirits - look especially picturesque against the background of bright spots of creeping phlox and large stones
Tall paniculate phloxes are able to look very organic in the frame of large evergreen perennials
Near what phlox should not be planted in a flower bed and in a garden
In order for a border, flower bed, mixborder or rabatka to successfully perform their decorative function, you should know well what to plant phlox next to on the site, and with which plants these flowers do not get along at all.
It is highly undesirable for trees and shrubs with a powerful superficial root system to be located in the immediate vicinity. The rivalry with lilac, spruce, birch, plum, cherry, willow or poplar will end in the death of the phlox: he will definitely lose the fight with them for food.
Conclusion
The examples given above allow us to conclude that you can safely plant phloxes with a variety of "neighbors" in regular and landscape compositions of any shape and style, invariably getting an excellent result. These bright, beautiful flowers are easy to grow and do not require complex maintenance or special environmental conditions. Knowing what phloxes in a flower bed are combined with, taking into account the size, shape and color range of ornamental and flowering plants that they have chosen as "companions", you can create an excellent ensemble that will decorate any green corner.
