How To Divide Summer Phlox for New, Healthy Plants

Tall backyard phlox brightens the border with a profusion of starry blooms in domed clusters. The native perennial attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with its flowers from summer season till frost. Cultivars in deep pink, pink, magenta, purple-blue, and bicolor enchant with improved kind and illness resistance.

Cultivated because the 1600s, these historic perennials are a staple within the border. They create a long-blooming, eye-catching show amongst different summertime blooms and grasses.

Dividing summer season phlox each few years advantages general well being. The species is liable to powdery mildew and desires good air circulation to thrive. Because it slowly spreads, thinning the crown helps cut back crowding, improve airflow, and restrict competitors for house, vitamins, and moisture.

Division can be a fast and simple approach to propagate new vegetation to develop the colony. Observe these straightforward steps to divide your summer season phlox!

Dividing Summer time Phlox

Backyard phlox is a clumping perennial that advantages from division each two to 4 years. The crown turns into much less vigorous over time and exhibits decreased flowering. Dividing the primary clump fosters the brand new progress that pops up on the perimeter.

Dividing rejuvenates progress, prevents cramped circumstances, and promotes flowering. It additionally creates new vegetation for years of recurrent shade.

In some circumstances, phlox could not thrive or fail to flower as a result of rising location. In an excessive amount of shade, for instance, they’ll profit from dividing and transplanting to a sunnier spot. Because the backyard matures, circumstances across the unique planting could change and warrant an adjustment. 

Instruments and Supplies

Dividing summer season phlox is simple and requires solely primary backyard instruments. You’ll want a digging fork, shovel, or spade to raise the clump. Clear, sharp pruners or a blade minimize the crown into sections and tidy the stems. Disinfect instruments with an alcohol wipe, spray, or dip in 70% isopropyl alcohol.

When to Divide Phlox

Early fall and spring are the very best occasions to divide summer season phlox. The cool, moist circumstances of those seasons let new divisions set up earlier than excessive chilly or sizzling climate.

Within the fall, 4 to 6 weeks earlier than the primary frost is right. An early fall division offers roots time to settle in earlier than heavy frost. In spring, divide summer season phlox as new progress emerges in spring.

Digging, dividing, and replanting at different occasions of the 12 months (particularly in excessive warmth or frigid circumstances) can stress younger transplants and the mature clump.

Step 1: Prep, Deadhead, and Cutback

By the tip of summer season, deadhead pale blooms, minimize away weak stems, and take away any diseased parts for the very best well being previous to dividing. These are good measures in opposition to powdery mildew. Take away dropped plant particles to forestall harboring and transferring fungal spores.

Put together the transplant space earlier than dividing summer season phlox, whether or not within the current rising spot or a distinct location. Verify soil high quality and add compost or broken-down natural matter to extend richness.

Summer time phlox thrives in organically wealthy, free, and well-draining soils. They’ll tolerate lesser circumstances, however clay and sand compositions profit from further compost. Evenly flip the soil to aerate it and promote root growth for the transplants.

Step 2: Digging and Lifting

Water deeply the day earlier than you divide summer season phlox to advertise water-filled roots and stems and simple digging. With a spade or digging fork, dig a large berth of six inches across the crown. Dig deeply beneath to seize as a lot of the foundation system as doable, and raise your complete clump. 

Rinse the roots with water or shake them gently to take away extra soil. Begin from the skin of the clump, which holds the very best divisions and freshest shoots.

Step 3: Making the Divisions

With a pointy knife or spade, separate the clump into sections, beginning with recent progress on the perimeter. Separate offshoots and spreading roots. Every section ought to have three to 5 viable stems and roots connected (these turn out to be the brand new transplants).

If the crown is dense and woody, missing vigor, and exhibiting much less progress and flowering, compost the outdated, woody portion and plant the brand new offspring.

Step 4: Replanting

As soon as divided, replant the summer season phlox segments as quickly as doable for viability. With the planting space prepped and amended, tuck the divisions into their free, well-drained, organically wealthy soils.

Dig a gap massive sufficient to accommodate the roots, and place the brand new “crown” one to 1 and a half inches beneath the soil floor. House the divisions at the very least 18 inches aside, relying on the variability, for satisfactory airflow as shoots develop and to plan for maturity.

Summer time phlox additionally grows superbly in containers. Situate the transplants in a high-quality potting combine. Guarantee pots and potting media are well-draining and comply with the crown placement for in-ground specimens (about one inch beneath the soil floor).

Step 5: Upkeep

Water after you divide summer season phlox and goal for even moisture. Within the fall, water till the primary frost. This produces the hardiest specimens for overwintering.

Relying in your local weather, common fall moisture is commonly sufficient. Complement with irrigation throughout dry spells. There’s no want for supplemental irrigation after frost, throughout dormancy.

For fall-planted transplants, add a thick mulch layer as temperatures drop for winter safety in chilly climates. Six inches of straw, pine needles, or leaf litter helps shield in opposition to pure freeze/thaw cycles and frost heaving, which might harm the younger, delicate roots.

Take away the thick mulch layer in early spring to make approach for brand spanking new progress to emerge. Preserve a two-inch layer (off of the stems) to control soil temperatures and retain moisture.

In spring and summer season, constant moisture often entails watering a couple of times weekly. About an inch of water per week, whether or not from rain or supplemental irrigation, is ample. Phlox doesn’t tolerate saturated soils, so guarantee good drainage to keep away from fungal issues.

In nutrient-rich soils, Phlox paniculata doesn’t want fertilizer to flourish. If you wish to give a nutrient increase, maintain off on fertilizing fall divisions till spring. Within the fall, there’s no must encourage new progress earlier than dormancy. 

In style Varieties

Phlox paniculata is the preferred of all of the phlox species (the genus additionally consists of creeping and woodland varieties). From pale pink to crimson, color-rich choices abound. Whether or not old style pass-along vegetation or newer cultivars, P. paniculata earns its spot within the border.

‘Jeana’

This exceptionally sturdy and floriferous choice is the 2024 Perennial Plant of the 12 months. ‘Jeana’ has a tall, sturdy behavior that helps an enormous present of deep lavender-pink florets. The calmly aromatic, domed trusses prime tall, stiff stems. Whereas every floret is smaller than different varieties, the quantity per bunch greater than makes up for his or her dimension.

Along with its decoration, ‘Jeana’ gives ecological worth. The nectar-rich blossoms are a magnet for butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, and different pollinators. Lengthy-blooming, ‘Jeana’ exhibits shade by way of early autumn.

Jeana Prewitt found the choice rising wildly in a big colony alongside the Harpeth River close to Nashville, Tennessee.

‘Glamour Lady’

‘Glamour Lady’ shines in sizzling, coral pink flowers on purple stems with wholesome inexperienced foliage. Probably the most disease-resistant varieties, it varieties an upright, mounded spray of blooms. 

Petals age from sizzling pink to gentle coral, including to their glam. The midsummer trusses rebloom late within the season for an additional flushing present.

‘Glamour Lady’ is a part of the Backyard Ladies™ collection, bred to tolerate sizzling and humid circumstances. Others within the collection embrace ‘Uptown Lady’ in lilac, ‘Celebration Lady’ in pinkish-white, and ‘Cowl Lady’ in a shock of violet.

‘David’

‘David’ is a top-performing traditional with bundles of snow-white flowers. It bears good powdery mildew resistance and shakes off minor infections.