Old favorites - Perennial Phlox and Obedient Plant

Obedient Plant, False Dragonhead, Physostegia virginiana is the flowering spikes on the right in the photo and
Phlox paniculata Garden phlox, Perennial phlox is on the left.

O’Fallon Perennial Walk at the Denver Botanic Gardens

If you have grown Obedient Plant, you'll call it disobedient plant in great-weather years. In summers that are bad for gardening and gardeners (like this one) it comes up and blooms a bit but not as wonderfully as it will next year. Because if there is anything that keeps gardeners going, it is hope and trust about next year's gardening seasons.

Perennial Phlox, of course is a backbone of any large garden. It is reliable, spreads and blooms its head off, bringing butterflies and other pollinators by the dozens.

While we were gone on vacation, ours turned brown to the ground but I know that pruning them this winter will ensure their success again next year.

By the way, researchers say that the least disease prone Phlox varieties are: David, Windsor, Alpha, Blue Boy, Prime Minister, Orange Perfection, Starfire, H.B. May, Fairest One, Bright Eyes, Dorffrendl, Dodo Hanbury Forbes, Eva Cullum, Franz Schubert and Fairy's Petticoat.


And, the most disease prone are: Sternhimmel, Adonis, Mt. Fuji, White Admiral, Mrs. R. P. Struthers, Pinafore, New Bird, Dresden China and Anja.

Most of us have perennials that look dead or close to it. Resist the temptation to prune right now though.