Phlox pilosa 'Eco Happy Traveler'

Phlox pilosa, the downy or prairie phlox, is a native of open woods, prairies, and glades across much of the eastern and central United States, and 'Eco Happy Traveler' is one of the most rewarding garden selections, made for a spreading habit and a long run of clear rose-pink bloom. The soft, downy stems and narrow leaves give the plant the common name, and the whole low mat is topped in late spring by loose clusters of fragrant, five-petaled flowers.

From late spring into early summer the deep rose flowers open in profusion just above the foliage, each with a darker eye and a light, sweet scent that carries on a warm afternoon. Bees, butterflies, and moths work the clusters steadily, and unlike the taller border phloxes, downy phlox shrugs off much of the powdery mildew that troubles the family.

'Eco Happy Traveler' earns the traveler in the name by spreading slowly into a dense, semi-evergreen mat, useful as a native groundcover, a front-of-border filler, a woodland-edge ribbon, or a cover for a sunny bank where the roots help hold the soil. The habit is steady rather than aggressive, filling ground without overrunning neighbors.

Give full sun to light shade and well-drained soil, and pair the phlox with little bluestem, coneflower, coreopsis, and other sun-loving natives for a naturalistic, pollinator-rich planting. Deer tend to pass the plant by, and the drought tolerance suits lean, sunny sites once the roots are settled.

Photographs courtesy of Mark Weathington at the JC Raulston Arboretum.