the downspout splash plate cracked me up ... lol.. but brilliant to use it to define the plant from the rest of the jungle.. behind .... at first i was trying to figure out why it was growing horizontally .... lol

did you fertilize??? .. maybe heavily???

ken

It is branching out.

Haha - thanks Ken! I looked around for a backdrop and the splash plate fit the bill. I have not ever fertilized the phlox garden in the 10+ years I have lived here. They just do their thing.

Tiffany, I can't find anything on the internet about tall phlox branching out. Is this something phlox does?

yes...branching 'out' When I pluck off the top couple whorls of leaves (for more branching) the new growth comes from the leaf axils. Deadheading encourages that side growth as well.

Why don't you nip that top growth right off? You could take off more than one whorl.

Makes the growth more compact. You'll get many more flowers although somewhat smaller. The over all effect is more 'floriferous'

I have not ever fertilized the phlox garden in the 10+ years I have lived here. They just do their thing.

==>>> i highly approve of not wasting money on feeding the alleged children in your garden ...

but your comment might also suggest.. you dont deadhead.. they are left to their own whims ...

when you cut off the old flower.. usually you remove atypical dominance [one stem growing straight up.. perhaps like a tree] ... and the way a lot of flowers actually rebloom.. is that dormant buds along the stem trigger to a growth phase ... and then they flower ...

its a curiosity.. and a learning moment .. but its not a problem ...

ken

Take a look at this pic, Graywings.

https://bloomingbulb.com/products/starfire-tall-summer-phlox-3-root-divisions?variant=31413307834423&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2019-12-26&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5auGBhDEARIsAFyNm9EicOYp6R3cLapx5hahHQMlfZtzzDByGmvuyFALwm5w-KgIHe1BpfoaAngNEALw_wcB

Ken, is the word ”atypical”? My spelling has become poor. i like to blame ”auto-mistake” (otherwise known as spellcheck)

Somehow atypical doesnt look right...

The word is ’apical’. Whether ‘atypical’ was spell check or a kenism we can’t tell.

Hummm, I never knew.

I thought garden phlox just grew straight up with one set of flowers.

Whether ‘atypical’ was spell check or a kenism we can’t tell.

==?>>> i'll never tell .. lol ...

i think it started as a pun ... but i dont know why it was ever funny .. lol ...

or it was a memory trick.. and again.. i dont know why .. lol ...

soooo .... sounds good to me.. let call it a spellchecker issue ....

ken

Both are words. Your plant looks really awesome, Graywings. Enjoy!

Ok, wiseguys, this is what I meant:

"In botany, apical dominance is the phenomenon whereby the main, central stem of the plant is dominant over (i.e., grows more strongly than) other side stems; on a branch the main stem of the branch is further dominant over its own side twigs."

I can't imagine auto-mistake would know you meant apical and not atypical, Ken.

I'm surprised I'm the only one who googled it.....usually I'm happy to let the misspellings hang out on the page. I have arthritis in my hands and my index finger is crooked. When I text on my cell phone 85% of my "a's" are "s's" . Depending on the recipient (work colleague or friend or family) I just let my ass and sses do what they will. Visual pun intended though it's not that funny.

Marie