I can just hear Ken say "experiment" and see what works

==>>

i figure you arent some gizmo geek who never turned off the gizmo and actually walked out into a garden ... but my answer remains the same .. lol ...

if they werent thinned in spring.. why not take out every other plants... while they are in bloom.. so you know which ones you want to save...

and then... just hard cutback swaths out.. so those that remain.. will have the extra air movement...

and while your at it.. why not just get rid of half of them ... i mean really.. how many do you need ...

ken

There you go....idea #1

but you dont want to work that hard.. so how about a controlled brush fire .. lol

In my garden this season has been a perfect storm for mildewed phlox - I didn’t cut back before winter last season due to family health issues absorbing my time, and this summer has been the weird combo of very humid but dry soil and little rain that seems to be ideal for powdery mildew.

If you like cut flowers, cut bunches of stems, strip them of leaves, and enjoy indoors. Put leaves in the trash not compost or garden waste.

Hose off the leaves early in the day every day. I have heard the mildew is reduced when leaves are washed and then they have time to dry.

Right. I've cut back hard every mildewed plan.t I'm going to rake out all the debris and mulch and dispose of it. There's good regrowth already so we'll see if I can control more mildew from the start.

I'll thin whatever grows back. And a little later I'll transplant a few, maybe even throw out some, as Ken suggests.

Barb, yep it's been a mess this summer.