Phlox Cherry Caramel - Cut Flowers - Early Bloom - July 2026

Posted by on

Earlier this year, I ordered a bunch of plugs from Farmer Bailey/Garden Club and I've documented my (learning) journey with them along the way.  From ordering them to having them arrive too early (Self-inflicted) to potting-them-up to keeping them (some of them) alive to planting them in.  

Part of my 2026 to-do list was to 'experiment with other cut flowers' and these plugs were a bit part of of my answer to that challenge.  

Amongst the plugs were an eight-pack of Phlox Cherry Caramel.   These faired the worst of all of my selections with four of the eight making it to planting-time and the other four withered while they were in the small pots.  I planted the four in different spots:  two in the pizza oven bed, one in the front island bed and one IB2DWs down by the sidewalk.

They're all on different growing schedules with some already growing larger than others.  One of them has even bloomed.  I'm posting this in early July, but this photo is from mid-June.  This is the one down by the sidewalk IB2DWs.  

Phlox Cherry Caramel - young plug

That thing is PINK.  P-I-N-K. 

Compare that bloom with the photo of the blooms on the Garden Club website:

Phlox Cherry Caramel
Source:  Garden Club

Maybe they'll gain that caramel-color as they age?  Or, maybe they are the wrong variety.  I'll know once the rest of them bloom.  

Here are the rest of the Phlox Cherry Caramel in their growing condition from mid-June below.  None of the rest of these even have buds on them.  First up are the two plugs that I planted right outside the pizza oven retaining wall:


And, here below, is the fourth phlox that I planted in the Island Bed amongst the Didiscus Lacy Blue.  

They're still small and some of them have been hit with some rabbit pressure.  I've since protected tehm with chicken wire cages.  Johnny Seeds listing page says they'll grow 16 to 20 inches tall.  Mine are...at least...so far...NOT (growing that tall).  

The other Garden Club plugs have been growing (slowly), but without much drama.  I'll look to document their growth in the coming weeks.  

Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Be nice to each other here.

Popular posts from this blog

Columnar Tree Tips via Pretty Purple Door

Posted by on
Image
I've written pretty extensively on my love of columnar trees here on the blog.  We have this stand of eight Frans Fontaine European Hornbeams (that you see some of above) and have this Weeping White Spruce that I picked up this season in our yard.  And I've posted multiple times about the columnar street trees of Tokyo over the years.  My love of columnar, narrow trees is something I've think I've well established here.  But, that doesn't mean that I  know everything about them! Recently, I read a note from Amy in from Pretty Purple about her take on narrow trees and thought it was worth sharing here.   Those of you who read the blog might remember Pretty Purple Door from my post earlier this year talking about tulip bulb colors and how she outlined some of the ways to make colors work together (add yellow!). In her post about narrow trees, she talks about how/why these trees work in suburban yards (space, duh!).  She includes some...
Read more

Chartreuse On The Loose Nepeta - Summertime Re-Bloomer - July 2025

Posted by on
Image
Earlier this year, I planted three small quart-sized nursery containers of a new (to me) nepeta named 'Chartreuse on The Loose' .  It is an interesting variety that has a unique color foliage (lime green), habit (trailing) and maintenance needs (it doesn't require deadheading to re-bloom).  Right away, one of the plants was eaten-up by the (dang!) rabbits.  But the other two seemed to do just fine.   Look back at this planting post in early May when the three small plants were just that:  small .  Lots of mulch showing between them.   Today?  They've made a drift with no gaps in between them at all.   See below for the current state of these trailing/spreading catmint perennials: I've mentioned that I need to continue to remind myself to add more of WHAT IS WORKING instead of adding net-new stuff.  But, these are both a reminder that sometimes new things can be great.  But, now that I see them working, I have put them...
Read more

Walnut vs Tree of Heaven vs. Sumac Backyard Identification - June 2020

Posted by on
Image
That's a look *up* from the ground through a young, skinny tree limb as well as a larger, more mature (and confirmed) Black Walnut tree.  The leaves, from a distance look similar.  Back last year, I mentioned that I wanted to try to identify if a couple of young trees were worth keeping or if I should remove them.  And, knowing that I wanted to hold myself accountable, I included it as #15 on my to-do list for the yard this year . After poking around on the web in various places , I think I've settled on this clear cut detail that I found on r/WhatIsThisPlant on Reddit :  Walnut tree leaves have no notches.  Tree of Heaven (an invasive tree), do.  From u/blacksheep998 : Ailanthus has a small notch at the base of it's leaflets. Black walnut leaflets, while slightly toothed, lacked that distinctive nub. So, that's first thing to check:  Does the little tree leaves have those 'thumbs' or notches?   *Looks closer*... Sure, enough....
Read more