A new addition to my garden about this time last year, Volcano purple. It was quite small but blooming when I brought it home and planted it. This year it has tripled in size. It bloomed about three weeks earlier than my David and my tall pink garden phlox. I deadheaded it and now it is covering itself with bloom for the second time. Although I didn't keep a record like I should have, it bloomed for a considerably longer period than David.Volcano is about half the height of David, approximately 18-20 inches. It is about two feet wide in its second season. In my garden there is no mildew on Volcano.
Below is a photo of David. This has been a superb bloomer in my garden. No special care or watering. No pests, no disease.
I would highly recommend both of these if you have a spot for them.~*~*~*~*~
A question for other bloggers. Are you having trouble uploading photos? I'm getting really frustrated. Today 'Blogger' would not upload anything larger than 350 x 300 which is tiny. I know some of you upload large files that can be seen in their original size by clicking on them. What is the secrete?
44 comments:
The Volcano Purple and David are both so beautiful! I love the Asian red lilies in the post below -- I have a soft spot for lilies, those hardy, quick-spreading plants that border lanes and walkways...
Volcano & David look like great specimens of Phlox. I love my "Robert Poore", it's a bright lavender purple phlox that is hardy & had no disease problems either. The fragrance is divine. I haven't had any issues with uploading photos through blogger. As far as the trick to getting a full size shot, once you click on the photo it should enlarge it unless the original was tiny to begin with. Wish I could be more helpful. :)
Hello,
Your phlox is gorgeous, and Volcano is something I will give serious consideration to for next year.
Since I'm relatively new at using (I've had a blogger account for a long time) blogger, I can't help much with your questions about photos. I too would like to know the answers to your questions.
I have posted a few photos, but still don't know how to wrap text around them, or do other fancy editing. If you visit, you'll see my simplicity.
My phlox was pretty much eaten to extinction by my groundhog "friend." So it was so nice "visiting" with yours!
~ Monica
One more must-have plant for me! I think I planted a David the first year I began a small garden, but it didn't survive. Since then, I've read so much about powdery mildew on phlox that I've been scared to try again. These are both so gorgeous, I'm just going to have to take the plunge!
I haven't tried to post today, so I don't know about the problems with uploading photos. I used to convert mine to "blog" size from my simple photo editing program, but that seemed to lower the quality of the picture, so I quit doing that. Perhaps something is going on with Blogger today...
Your phlox is SO beautiful. Mine does not do anything. What can I do? It grows but never blooms even though I moved my white phlox just this year because it never bloomed, no matter what I did. I do have a red one blooming but that was pure luck since I just planted this year. I wish mine looked like yours. Not sure about blogger as I haven't tried to upload any photos today. Sometimes it gets like that though.
Monica, please visit anytime--but leave the fat, furry friend at home:)
That is why I have a border collie. But truth be told, the bc has done thousands upon thousands of dollars more in damage than an army of ground hogs riding deer.
Marnie
Hi Rose. Even on my old fashioned tall garden phlox, I seldom get serious mildew.
I love both of these phlox and plan to add more this year or next. The advantage of the Volcano phlox is no staking and a little longer bloom period.
Marnie
TC, thank you for stopping to visit and leaving a comment. Hope you will visit again.
Marnie
Cordwood cabin, I feel the same way about lilies and daylilies.
I visited you blog and really enjoyed the link to vintage cards.
Marnie
Hi Perennial Gardener. I'll have to check out your Robert Poore. That's a new one for me.
Nobody else is having problems uploading. That means Blogger has singled me out to harass. That can't be good:)
Marnie
Hi Marnie,
I'll warn you up front, this may be a long comment!
Thanks to Gail, we've really come to appreciate our phlox this year (and man, has it spread!), so learning about new varieties has been instructive for me! I love both of yours and didn't realize that we could provoke a second bloom flush by deadheading, so maybe we'll try that, but it's still going strong out back. David is a really pretty one, and I'll have to keep my eye out for him.
Ok, to posting pics woes ... My first suggestion is that you host your photos on Flickr, Photobucket or one of the other services. Flickr & PB offer generous free accounts, though I prefer Flickr, and if you have a yahoo id, that's all you need to get an account going and they give you an allowance of 100 mb per month, which I never exceed, so I keep it entirely free (there's a Pro service you pay about $20 for if you're really prolific).
Once you get that set up, it's quite simple. What I do is take my original sized photos (very high res), and using my photo editing software, reduce them in size by half, and save as a high quality jpg format (which reduces both the size of the picture and file considerably). Then you log in to Flickr (or PB), upload them, and then you can just link from Blogger to the hosted photo, which makes it very quick and much less quirky than Blogger which has been really hinky in a lot of ways lately, so don't think you're the only one. :-)
Once you have your pics on Flickr, just copy the URL there and paste it in the URL field that Blogger gives you when you click on the add photo icon. There you can (you probably already know this) choose the size and orientation on the page.
I very rarely use Blogger to upload for these reasons: 1) they do something that alters the quality of the images 2) they're somewhat stingy with space allowances, and 3) Flickr is much more reliable and even fun. Once you have an acct set up, you can see others' photos and comment on them or on your pages.
If you need more info on how to do this, feel free to email me (from my profile email link on my blog) and I can give you more detailed instructs. Hosting your photos elsewhere is really the way to go, IMHO. Plus, on Flickr you can put together slide shows and albums and can send links to family and friends to go there and view them, instead of emailing them the pics.
Hope that answers some of your questions! IVG
Great flower pictures, but the deers really like them around my place and enjoyed them before us. I had no problems loading pictures.
Hey - no fair! Your phlox is better than my phlox! I 'll have to look into those varieties. My phlox is really winding down now, and although it is very pretty when it is in full bloom, we have had lots of mildew problems with it.
Good morning Tina. I can't imagine what could be wrong with yours. Mine do best in full sun but have limited bloom in partial shade. I've read that in the south they may do best with no more than 6 hours of sun. Or. Maybe it's time to just give up on that one and try another variety. If you have a Home Depot in your area, try a Volcano phlox (colors red, white, purple, pink, ruby). I'm excited about the early bloom time and about getting a good rebloom in August. Good luck with yours.
Marnie
Hi IVG. If your phlox is at its peak now, it may not have time to rebloom, but I always try. Another good reason to deadhead phlox is because you don't want them to reseed. Hybrid phlox will not come true from seed so any seedlings will revert to the common pink phlox which is a strong grower and may crowed out the hybrid.
Thanks for the tips on uploading to Blogger. I do have accounts at Flickr and Photobucket. I assumed that accidentally deleting or moving a photo on an online host would delete the photo from the blog? Maybe that doesn't matter? I'll do an experiment to see if moving a photo on Flickr will delete it from a practice blog.
Marnie
Hi Andre. I know, a lot of people can't grow any deer favorites. I was just wondering, would it be worth loosing some plants to see deer standing on my patio in the morning. Maybe.
Marnie
Hi Dog-Geek. LOL at your comments. For years I just had the old fashioned pink phlox. I liked it, the hummers and sphinx moths liked it. But I really, really like these new varieties. They have larger blooms, longer bloom periods, many more colors, and are very disease resistant.
Marnie
Hi Marnie,
LOVE those pics of the phlox. Definitely have to have those in my garden next year.
this phlox brings back a really fond memory. one mother's day at least 12 years ago we were on our way home from church and stopped in a field covered with phlox. my children promptly hopped out and started picking bouquets of the lovely wildflower and we caught it on video. the boys were trying to see who could get the most flowers and the girls were flitting around the field like fairies. i love to see that and have a fondness for phlox. yours are beautiful!
Marmee, what a wonderful memory. Isn't it always the simplest things that make the most treasured memories?
Marnie
Hi Flydragon. I need more. I plan to start searching for the red and white varieties.
Marnie
I love phlox..although I havn't had much luck with it...maybe it is a little too hot for it here in Alabma..your is beautiful though . Sadly this time of year my garden is fairly welll spent. I do have day lilies that up and decided they would bloom again!
Your phlox is wonderful! Mine is not mildewy but not as prolific as Volcano! I love the color and will certainly add this to my list! David is a gorgeous phlox, too! I am so glad that IVG is into phlox! I am off to dead head mine!
Gail
Marnie, oh I love phlox! It's a sentimental favorite of mine. I've had it in every perennial garden I've ever had in everything from full blazing sun to barely part sun.
Yours look very healthy and beautiful. I love David, and have had him around for a long time. Volcano Purple is gorgeous!
I had some trouble uploading photos before, too, Marnie. You weren't singled out for harrassment, I promise! I do a little website management, so I just loaded them onto my own hosting plan and linked to them until blogger decided it was safe to let me post pictures again.
But, after reading Iowa's comment, I think I might switch to using Flickr. I've got a flickr account, and don't use it often enough. I do like flickr's slideshows, and I'm always looking for ways to make my images better (can I blame all the blurry ones on blogger now?)
Beautiful phlox!
Marnie, Volcano purple look truly purple.Why does this surprise me? I planted a 'Red Super' and it turned out to be a dark pink. It's not that I don't like pinks, but I was so looking forward to red. After seeing the purple on your post, I will look for it as I now know it will be true to it's name. Also, I've seen others have pics of David and thought it was pretty. Maybe a purple and white bed with a little dark pink thrown in! Sometimes blogger just doesn't want to down load. I'm not sure but I suspect it is overwhelmed at times with users and cannot handle all. They really need to work on it.
Your phlox is lovely! My parents have several that I often admire, but seem to need more care and water than I've wanted to deal with. It's nice to know there are some easy care varieties out there.
What a find your blog has been for me.
I love perennial Phlox and lined a path between my rose beds with it. Unfortunately last summer's drought and consequent rise in water salinity killed the lot. Oriental Lilies tend to last longer plantd in the shade.
I absolutely concur on the bad hair cuts! Happy gardening.
White phlox is so stunning at twilight when the perfume quickens the senses. By moonlight it glows adding sheer loveliness to the garden. Lovely photos of lilies as well!
Good morning Pat. My garden is looking pretty sad now too. Poor planning on my part I guess. I plant what I love and don't give enough thought to late summer bloomers. Agastache and that wonderful workhorse rudbeckia is about all that's blooming now.
You're luck to have daylily rebloomers. I only have Stella that repeats. Most gardeners seem to loath Stella, but I love her.
Marnie
Hi Gail. Your like me. You visit other sites and see plants you like and add them to your list. My list has officially gone out of control! I've added about 20 plants this year:)
Google Volcano Phlox and see all the colors they come in. They didn't offer all these at my local store but I really want the red and white ones.
Marnie
Hi Garden Girl. I'm becoming sentimental about phlox too. There are certain plants I consider the backbone of a garden. Phlox is one.
Marnie
Hi Daisy, thanks for your help on uploading to Blogger. I'm going to try that too. I have no patience and a low flashpoint. I also don't like the idea of Blogger compressing the file so much the quality of the photos suffers. If linking to a host as IVG suggested will improve photos and save time, that will be great.
Marnie
Hi Beckie. It always surprises me when a plant lives up to the wonderful description the hybridizers and vendors give it:)
I like the smaller size on the Volcano because it doesn't require staking and doesn't take up much space. But for the back of the border, you can't beat the tall ones like David.
Marnie
Hi Amy. Water is an important consideration for me too. You probably get even less rain than we do here on the prairie.
Several years ago I began eliminating everything that couldn't get by with only rainfall--no supplemental watering.
Marnie
Hello Arija. What a shame you lost many of your plants. It must have been beautiful walking along the path among the blooming phlox.
I agree about white plants at night. It is always one of my favorite times in the garden. The white seems to have an inner glow that creates a lovely if eerie appearance.
Marnie
Marnie,
The list is too long! While I could expand the garden bed somewhat I don't have time to take care of another one! You saw my post about the neglected bed in the backyard! The drought has taken out the wildflowers and left those hardy perennial WEEDS!
I will google Volcano phlox, thanks for the tip!
Hi Marnie.
I don't know anything about your photo upload issue but I'm not on blogger ~ I hope you find a solution tho. The 'Volcano Purple' phlox is beautiful. I bought a phlox about this time last year too (I'll have to dig up the stake to see which one it was) but it's not doing nearly as well as yours. I think I had it overcrowded? I moved it several weeks ago and it seems to be responding already. Hopefully next year it will look something like yours!
Gail, yes I remember your post on the neglected area.
After I said I would not expand or create any new beds--I did. One small bed to add some grasses, some peonies and, well whatever. But these have to be no care plants. Nothing that needs to be watered. I put several thickness of paper around the plants and cover with a lots of ground leaves. That way no weeding. Works for me but it probably wouldn't work for everyone.
Marnie
Hi Kathleen. I just visited your blog. I love your vines. Vertical gardening is something many people don't take advantage of. I love vines winding around every available post, fence or arbor. Your doorway arbor is really nice.
Marnie
Both your Volcano and David are glorious, and your photos are wonderful! How nice to have no mildew. Mine have done well this year. It's the dry weather that causes it, strangely enough, and we've had lots of rain.
I use Picasa2, a free downloadable program from Google, to send my photos to Blogger. It's very easy. I resize them to 720X480 or 800X533 (my camera is an SLR Canon Rebel XTi and the files are very large) so they won't fill up my Google web album so fast. You can send 4 photos at a time and I rarely have any trouble with it. Picasa is a great program. It lets you view all your photos and edit them. Just use Google search to find the download.
I hope this helps :)
The volcano purple phlox is very attractive. I like the colour, and the long bloom time is a good trait, especially that it starts flowering a little earlier. The shorter height makes it sound extra sturdy.
Your phlox is beautiful! I have David already and love it. I had not heard of Volcano Purple before. It's a must-try -- love that color.
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