Phlox carolina 'Kim'

Phlox carolina 'Kim' is among the best of the Carolina phloxes, a selection found by the plantswoman Jan Midgley in Alabama and grown ever since for good health and honest flower power. From a low, tidy clump of narrow, almost lime-green leaves rise sturdy stems eighteen to twenty-four inches tall, each carrying an open, airy cluster of pale to bright pink flowers, five petals apiece, hovering just above the foliage from late spring into early summer. Where the border phloxes so often finish the season spotted and tired, 'Kim' holds clean, fresh foliage from spring straight through fall.

Phlox carolina, the thickleaf or Carolina phlox, is a native of open woods, clearings, and roadside banks through the southeastern and north-central United States, a well-mannered cousin of the taller garden phloxes. The name phlox, from the Greek word for flame, honors the bright color of the clan, while carolina marks the country where the wild species was first gathered. The 'Kim' selection stands out for a vigorous, sturdy habit and, most of all, for a stubborn resistance to the powdery mildew that plagues so much of the tribe, a trait that has earned the plant high marks in trial gardens.

In the garden, Phlox carolina 'Kim' earns a place at the front or middle of a sunny border, along a woodland edge, or through a meadow or pollinator planting, where the airy pink heads read from a distance and the low, mildew-free foliage stays presentable all season. The lightly fragrant flowers draw butterflies, hummingbirds, and long-tongued bees through early summer. Pair the phlox with coreopsis, little bluestem, coneflower, and amsonia for a loose, native, sun-loving picture.

Give the plant full sun to light shade and an average to moist, well-drained soil, and 'Kim' asks for little beyond a summer drink in the driest weeks. Shear or deadhead the spent heads for a tidy clump and a chance at rebloom, then cut the old stems to the basal foliage in late fall or early spring. A tough, clean, long-blooming native phlox, and one of the few that shrugs off the mildew where the rest give in.