I want to apologize to Gail at Clay andLimestone and to everyone for my mistake in yesterday's post. An incomplete post was actually automatically published--my error, I did not pay enough attention. The post that was meant for yesterday had the same topic but was much more complete. Sorry.
If PPP could talk, she would have quite a tail to tell. Dug out of the ground, stuck in a little box and jostled and bounced around for a week. Finally the box opens and here is an unfamiliar landscape.
PPP took the US Mail in stride and settled into her new home in my woodland garden. She remained mostly evergreen under last winter's snow and this spring she is at least four or five times the size she was last year. I needn't have worried she was planted in too much shade, that hasn't fazed her either. Her job is blooming and she does that really well.
Gail at Clay and Limestone sent PPP to me last year. Gail has become a good will Ambassador for native plants in general and PPP in particular. A lot of gardeners around the country would never have heard of PPP or had it growing in their gardens if not for photos and stories from Gail's GOBN (garden of benign neglect:). Lately I've seen PPP featured on garden blogs from Florida to Chicago. All these little plants courtesy of Gail. Thank you Gail for introducing so many of us to PPP.
A little something about PPP, known to sticklers for botanical nomenclature as phlox pilosa. It is a native of dry, open woodlands, meadows and prairies over most of the US. It reminds me a little of woodland phlox, p. divaricata, but blooms over a considerably longer time period. A great plant for a woodland garden but also perfect growing among hybrid perennials and shrubs.
