Annual phloxes are flowers that captivate gardeners with their incredible beauty. They are known all over the world, but officially North America is considered their homeland. This flower belongs to herbaceous plants and has thin stems with branches. The minimum stem height is 12 centimeters, the maximum is 30 centimeters. The flowering period of phlox is from June to frost. The flower of the annual phlox has an unusual shape resembling a snowflake, and can be regular, semi-double or double. Its color is pure and replete with various tones and shades. The fragrance of this flower is indescribably beautiful.
This plant is the only one in its family that is an annual. He was even given his own name - phlox "drummondi". Annual phloxes differ in their unpretentiousness. Planting and care consist of loosening, weeding and abundant watering. It should be noted that this plant loves fresh fertile soil and a lot of sun. A feature is that in hot sunny weather, flowering becomes more abundant, and the color is much brighter. These flowers do not tolerate excess moisture and shade at all. Phloxes love caring and thorough care. The main area of application of these colors is the decoration of borders and flower beds. Very often theyplanted in pots to decorate loggias and balconies.
To maintain aesthetics, he needs a special mineral fertilizer "Nitrofoska", which helps the flower to maintain freshness and bloom profusely. For the same purpose, he always needs to remove faded buds. Beginning amateur gardeners should be aware that these annuals cannot tolerate fresh manure.
Easily propagate by seeds annual phloxes. Landing and care in this case take place in several stages. First, in March, seeds are sown in boxes. Secondly, for two to three weeks, the seeds are kept indoors at a temperature of at least +15 degrees. Thirdly, during the entire period of germination, they must be evenly moistened. Fourth, at the end of May, the plants are planted in the ground in a sunny place at a distance of 15 centimeters from each other. In this case, the first flowers will appear by the end of June. You can make it easier and sow the seeds immediately into the ground in May, but in this case, the plant will begin to bloom only closer to mid-August.
There is one feature of growing phloxes from seeds that distinguishes them from other plants. Dense and rather large seeds germinate poorly in the soil (out of 100 seedlings give only 2-3), but they sprout very well on the soil surface with enough sunlight. Seeds are laid out on top of the ground, sprayed with a spray bottle and covered with a film. Do not forget to shake off the condensate daily. Here they are - annual phloxes. Planting and care, of course, can deliversome troubles, but in the end the result will please the eye.
Flowers can be cream and coffee, yellow and pink, lilac and blue, but flower growers are sure that their favorite bright red flower is still better. The richness of the palette helps them find their place in group plantings against the background of the lawn. And when the painstaking work is over, all that remains is to wait for the flowers and admire the annual phloxes, planting and caring for which can bring pleasure to true gardening lovers.
