Phlox subulata 'Purple Beauty'

Phlox subulata 'Purple Beauty': Curb-Stopping Purple Carpet

Purple stars with deeper violet eyes, smothering the foliage until the whole mat looks like a velvet throw. 'Purple Beauty' turns a plain retaining wall into the living room OF A VERY RICH AUNT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Phlox subulata 'Purple Beauty'
• Common Name: Creeping Phlox, Moss Phlox
• Height: 10–15 cm (4–6 in)
• Spread: 30–45 cm (12–18 in)
• Flowers: Purple, star-shaped, with a deeper violet eye, covering the foliage in bloom
• Bloom Time: Mid to late spring (May to June)
• Foliage: Dark green, needle-like and evergreen, forming a dense mat
• Features: Evergreen groundcover

Where to Plant: Use it to edge a path, spill over a retaining wall, fill gaps in a rock garden or cover a sunny slope. It handles our cold winters easily, and the evergreen mat keeps the ground covered year round.

Companion Plants: Use 'Purple Beauty' as a spring carpet in a sunny, dry bed with indigo pea flowers and hot pink coneflowers. Sedum Puff Pastry™ White Chocolate adds creamy white heads at 30 to 35 cm from August to October. Echinacea SunMagic® Vintage Lipstick brings hot pink coneflowers at 45 to 60 cm from July to September. Baptisia Decadence® 'Blueberry Sundae' adds indigo-blue spikes at 90 cm in June and July. Bouteloua curtipendula stands behind at 60 to 75 cm in flower, a native side-oats grama.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average to lean, well-drained soil. Sandy or gravelly soil is ideal. Heavy, wet clay is its main enemy, so add grit or plant on a slope if your soil holds water. Water regularly in the first season, then only during long dry spells. After flowering, shear the mat back lightly to keep it dense and tidy. Avoid heavy mulch over the crown. Divide in spring or early fall if patches thin out in the centre.

History: Creeping phlox, Phlox subulata, is native to eastern and central North America, where it grows on rocky ledges, slopes and open clearings. Gardeners have long used it for spring colour on banks and walls.

Final Thoughts: Evergreen, deer resistant and drought tolerant once settled. Let it hang over the edge of the wall. ROYALTY SPILLS DOWNHILL.