How to grow annual phlox

Annual phlox are usually available in a mix of colours or shades. You can buy them as seeds to sow in spring or as plug plants

Seedlings or young plants grown singly in small modules, with the advantage that they can be transplanted with minimal root disturbance. Bedding plants and young veg plants are often sold as plug plants of various sizes, with smaller ones requiring more aftercare. They usually need to be potted up and grown on indoors until large enough to plant outside. via mail order in spring. They like a site that’s sunny for most of the day and free-draining, fertile soil or a large (30-40cm (1ft-18in)) container of peat-free potting compost

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own. .

How to sow annual phlox?

Like many annuals

Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one growing season. They are generally easy to grow from seed or can be bought as young plants from garden centres. Annuals are ideal for growing in summer containers and filling gaps in borders. Some examples of annuals include sunflowers, cosmos, sweet peas and zinnia. , these are seeds that can be sown in a greenhouse or similar frost-free place. For full guide, see our seed sowing information.

The seed is sowing in mid-spring in seed trays or modules

Small individual cells, usually in a tray, used for sowing seeds. The resulting seedlings can be transplanted with minimal root disturbance. of peat-free seed sowing compost

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers - a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own. .

If you've bought plug plants, pot these up on arrival/when you get them home, and grow them on in a greenhouse or similar frost-free place with bright light.

Plant out your young phlox after hardening off (acclimatising) and after danger of frost is past, usually the first week in June in much of England and Wales - a week or two later for Northern England and Scotland.

Where should I plant?

• Plant them in a spot that gets sun for most of the day
• Their height is low, around 10-45cm (4-8 in), so choose a container or front-of-the-border position for best visibility
• Space your plants around 25cm (10in) apart (check the seed packet for details)
• Annual phlox are not fully hardy, so won’t survive frosty conditions in autumn, so treat them like a bedding plant and remove to the compost heap at the end of the season

Watering

Water as needed during hot dry spells. Plants grown in containers will need additional watering.

Feeding

Plants in containers can be fed to sustain flowering. Use a high-potash liquid feed, like a tomato feed, following the manufacturers instructions.

Deadheading

Deadhead (remove) any spent flowers. Deadheading

Deadheading is the process of removing spent flowers from plants to encourage more blooms and prevent seed production. This helps to redirect the plant's energy into producing more flowers rather than producing seeds. ensures plants put their energy into making more flowers rather than seed.

Caring for older plants

Care is fairly simple, as explained above for much of the summer season. Plants die off naturally in late summer or early autumn as they age or when they get frosted – at which point they can be pulled up and composted.

There are two main options for growing annual pholox, but both are from seed.

1. If you sow seeds indoors in spring – late March and April – plants should come into flower by mid June or early July.
2. Although seeds could be sown in late May directly in the ground where they are to flower, the flowering will be later and success less assured than if sowing indoors.

Deadheading

Deadheading is the process of removing spent flowers from plants to encourage more blooms and prevent seed production. This helps to redirect the plant's energy into producing more flowers rather than producing seeds. will stop your plants setting seed, so you'll need to buy fresh seed each year. You can always allow some flowers to set seed - but they will always give new plants with some different flower colours to their parents.

Watch out for slugs and snails when plants are young and use controls of your choice.