Common Name: phlox
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Polemoniaceae
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 0.25 to 0.50 feet
Spread: 0.75 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Pink to lavender to purple
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Annual, Ground Cover
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Attracts: Hummingbirds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Clay Soil
Culture
Grow in fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Established plants tolerate brief periods of drought. Summer mulch is appreciated in hot summer climates in order to help keep root zones cool.
PAPARAZZI MIX will not produce viable seed.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Phlox is a genus of about 70 species mostly native to North America that are grown for their showy flowers.
The genus name is derived from the Greek word phlox meaning flame in reference to the intense flower colors of some varieties.
The Paparazzi Series consists of a number of spring flowering hybrid phlox cultivars which typically grow in low mounds to 5-10” tall. As of 2014, nine cultivars are being marketed in this series, with six of them carrying U. S. patents (ANGELINA, BRITNEY, GAGA, LINDSAY, MILEY AND PARIS) and the remaining three having patent applications pending (ADELE, JAGGER, and LEVINE). If the foregoing trade names seem familiar, it is because they are the names of nine female celebrities who are or have been often followed in their daily lives by paparazzi photographers.
Plants in this Series produce fragrant, salverform flowers (3/4” to 1” across) in a variety of colors ranging from pink to lavender to purple. Flowers bloom from April to June in clustered cymes atop stems clad with spreading linear to linear-lanceolate, stalkless, deep green leaves (to 1” long). Each flower has a long corolla tube and five, flat, petal-like lobes. Parents are unpatented varieties of Phlox subulata (seed parent) crossed with unpatented varieties of Phlox stolonifera (pollen parent). Plants are noted for having vigorous growth, early flowering, a long flowering period and good resistance to powdery mildew.
PAPARAZZI MIX is simply a mixture of Paparazzi Series cultivars which when massed will produce a number of different flower colors including pink to lavender to purple.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. This phlox has good resistance to powdery mildew. Watch for spider mites in hot, dry conditions.
Uses
Excellent for dry sunny locations. Excellent selection for rock gardens, cottage gardens, wild gardens, native plant gardens or prairie-type areas. Edging.