Description

Such a cute and versatile groundcover!

Moss phlox or creeping phlox is a vigorous, spreading, mat-forming, sun-loving phlox. Awl-shaped leaves retain some green in winter. Flowers have five, flat, petal-like, rounded lobes that are distinctively notched. Dense, low-growing foliage allegedly resembles moss, thus the common name.

‘North Hills’ is a cultivar with bright white flowers and a prominent violet purple eye.

Best flowering is in full sun. Good drainage is essential. Plants grow well in sandy or gravelly soils and tolerate hot, dry exposures better than most other species of phlox. Does not succumb to powdery mildew as other species of phlox do. To produce dense foliage and encourage rebloom, shear plant back and clean up any dead foliage in early summer after blooming. Divisions can be made every few years in summer.

Height: 4-6 in.
Spread: 12-18 in.
Family: Polemoniaceae
Bloom time: late spring
Sun: full sun
Water: dry to medium
Deer resistant

photo credit: Walters Gardens, Inc.