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.
23 comments:
Thanks for more infor about PPP. Apparently, she wanted her story told right away and didn't wait for you to finish everything.
Oops to me, too, because I was here a little while ago and read your Memorial Day post, but forgot to scroll up and read the phlox post. I guess it's just as well I'm forgetful:)
PPPP has taken on a life of its own, hasn't it? I got a start last fall when we passed through Nashville, and Gail graciously let me stop in for a quick visit. It's doing well in a sunny place here, and I imagine by next year it will spread even more. I dug up a plant last summer along the roadside that looked like prairie phlox, our native phlox pilosa, but it didn't survive in my garden. I'm still not sure it was really the prairie phlox anyway.
I thought it was most cute and complete-today's is just extra icing.
Hi Marnie....isn't it wonderful when one person can make such a difference. Gail has praised PPP for as long as I have been blogging. I love it when people go the extra mile for something they believe in (native planting).
She looks delightful in your garden.....her charms are more than apparent (enjoy)
Hi Marnie, I do wish blogger would move the 'Publish Post' button away from the others, I don't know if that is what happened to you but I once had to hurriedly withdraw an incomplete post from publication due to 'finger trouble'!
However, your post looked complete in itself even if it wasn't :) What a lovely flower PPP is, I have Phlox in my garden but am not familiar with that one at all, lovely photos too.
I also appreciated your earlier post and was so glad you added the rider to the General Patton quote as I read it and thought, 'oh dear I don't really agree with that'. My dear Father served in the Royal Air Force in WW2, he was away for six long years but thankfully returned...if he hadn't I would not be here to write this now...
Well, I wish a little of your PPP would travel a little further, just until it lands on my doorstep. :) Very pretty, and I'm glad it survived it's trip.
I too wish the publish button wasn't right next to the save as draft button. I've inadvertently published a number of posts that I didn't mean to.
Now I'm confused as to which phlox in my garden is PPPP. I have Marsh Phlox, Ozark Phlox (subpecies of Phlox pilosa), and a very bright pink phlox that I thought was PPPP. It's even planted right next to Penstemon X! But the color is so much brighter and darker than what I'm seeing on everyone else's blogs. Maybe what I think is Ozark Phlox is really PPPP after all. What would gardening be without muddles and mysteries.
Hi Marnie! I love phlox and often see it in the mountains or even around here on the side of the road. Guess what? You won my giveaway!! If you could please email your info to me, thanks!!
Ulrike
Your PPPP looks much better after her trips than I do! Very pretty!
I love the postcard PPP sent! How cute.
Gail is most generous sharing PPP with other gardeners. It has to be one of the best plants around to perform well under so many different conditions. It looks great in your garden for sure Marnie.
I've longed to own PPPP myself, since reading Gail's blog. Someday I will have to acquire this lovely flower, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy the four of five phlox that already live here!
Love the phlox! There must be several different kinds of phlox. I have one that is growing really tall. It is a pass-along from my mom, who got her from a neighbor. I love pass-along plants. Sounds like your little plant also fits that category!
Love it, Marnie! I have some of these cuties in my woodland garden at the lake. I really should take time to shoot them but always too busy simply enjoying life around me. Thanks for sharing :)
Hi Marnie, Thanks for telling us more about PPP--and what it is. I have some Phlox in my yard --and it is so pretty. Glad yours is doing so well. I'm sure that Gail is happy!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
Beautiful Phlox. I wish I could keep the rust off mine though.
btw - I agree Travers quote does not apply to most fishing i.e. guys with beer in a boat. It does apply however to solitary flyfishing along a beautiful stream.... a very specific genre. :) Of course, its also my favorite place.
Wow that PPP has really made the rounds in gardens all over the country this season. :) Gail has been a generous gardener indeed.
A delightful scattering of lavender color Marnie!
Love the idea that it came from a blogging friend!I grow summer phlox.Hope you're not too HOT in your world ..here we are having a heat wave fast forwarding into summer!My peonies are wilting but NOT before I did a photo shoot!
I'm always afraid of that happening to me! I love that your phlox came from a bloggy friend - it's beautiful!
Manuela
I wonder if the PPP would grow down here in this high heat and humidity? I am going to start a little woodland garden and I have the perfect spot for it. I shall have to do some more investigating for this pretty phlox.
I loved your little post card, that was so cute.
We have a similar looking wild phlox that grows in abundance around here, esp. in the ditches and roadsides. There is one are that is on a hillside and is semi wooded, and is covered with these beauties.
Tammy
I've never thought of growing Phlox pilosa in the woodland, but it has been wonderful for tying my two front beds together. One is full sun, the other part shade. Finding a plant that will flourish in both is a challenge, especially as the sunny bed is well established.
Those PPPs are really getting around. Gail is so generous. I'd love to try them in my garden. They look very happy in yours.
The postcard made me smile :)
I've accidently published once or twice too. I just go back to edit posts and save it as a draft, which gets it offline, and then you can work on finishing it.
Hi,
Stopping by because I just read some comments on the Troutbirder blog and you mentioned not being able to find heirloom tomatoes in your part of the country (I'm assuming you meant plants). Have you tried Seeds of Change? Here's their website: http://www.seedsofchange.com/
It's amazing how one blog leads to another and yet to another--
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