Carolina Phlox Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)
Phlox grows wild around my mountain holler. Since we’ve lived here I’ve let it go where it will and it has pretty much taken over the edge of the front yard.
It’s a beautiful flower—the color of the pink petals stand out brightly against the green surroundings and the blue of a Carolina sky. The plant being a wildflower that grows where it will seems to be a special bonus.
The blooms are almost identical to a plant we call thrift, but thrift grows very close to the ground and phlox blooms a top long stems. It is a common wildflower and can be found throughout the eastern US.
The blooms are varying shades of pink, with most plants sporting an almost fuchsia color.
I don’t believe the blooms have ever been as pretty as they are this year and Chitter pointed out the first white cluster I’ve ever seen. It’s been a good year for phlox.
If all that beauty isn’t enough, the plant also smells wonderful. The sweet fragrance filters into almost every part of the yard.
- Sunday night’s video: How to Make Traditional Kraut in Appalachia
- Tuesday night’s video: Grammar in Appalachia
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They are beautiful and they do look alike. I have some of the pink Phlox growing on the creek bank they certainly are a wonder to see. My creek bank is shaded so I’m assuming these wild flowers grow better in the shade.
We actually have phlox here! The previous owners brought roadside lilies and phlox from her grandmother’s home in Tennessee. I guess they are hardy enough for our Michigan winters. They bring me so much joy when they bloom as it brings a little bit of “home” to my yard.
Phlox smells so magical! Those blooms in your photo are beautiful. When I lived in Iowa, I planted tall phlox. There were seed packets at the store (Walmart) for a much shorter phlox, too, which I didn’t get. The tall and short varieties had blooms on their packets in purple, white, and that deep pink. You are so blessed to have that wonderful scent so near to you!
The phlox is gorgeous. That may be my favorite color. My favorite memory of a wild flower is the wild rose bush that grew across the road from my grannie’s house. I think many thought of it as a nuisance plant but I loved it.
I enjoyed the kraut making. I can never get enough juice out of the cabbage somehow & always end up having to add brine. It never is as good as Mama”s was–she was locally famous.
The only thing lacking in my growing up years was learning to identify and love flowers. Mowing usually took anything but the trees. I am wild flower challenged, but I sure appreciate the ones that have a fragrance when you are outside. That fragrance is one reminder of how fortunate to live in Appalchia away from the horns and smells from car exhausts. Honeysuckle is my favorite. It fortunate enough to have one of the really old rose bushes, as they will fill the air with fragrance. Now I will have to watch for the wild phlox.
Lovely
Those are so beautiful. I even see them in people’s yard among other beautiful flowers. I love the different colors too.
I’m glad you all got such a nice double surprise. Those little gifts of nature that just show up are among the best surprises, just like the chantarelles up the holler. Makes one wonder if the seed were there, waiting for light or were blown in or carried in by some little friends. And for them to show up as a natural border right in front of the green woods is icing on the cake, just in a place to show them off and where they could be left to do their own best. You couldn’t have planned it any better. One might say the Master Gardener just did it Himself to bless you all because He likes to delight His children.
Your homestead would make a good quilt pattern seems like. But I confess I don’t know what I’m talking about, not being a quilter.
Although thrift here is the same color as your phlox, ours here in southern WV are more lilac in color and white. Many times they pollinate together creating differing shades of pale pinks, etc. I think they’re the most amazing flower in the woods and remember thinking as a young woman in the military driving here from Fayetteville, NC and coming up Fancy Gap Mountain about the cooler, fresher air and the PHLOX in all its glory!!! I remember as a kid, phlox was the crowning jewel atop my mud pies for mommy!!! She’d proclaim how wonderful and later I’d find my pies tossed in the woods beside her kitchen… lol. Was she supposed to keep them forever in the kitchen? In my mind- yes she was. God bless mommies everywhere as they do and give all they know to!!!