Phlox paniculata Orchid Green

Phlox paniculata ‘Orchid Green’ is a very fragrant variety with a unique colour, very floriferous in summer, ideal for beds, flower borders, and large pots. Its large panicles bear numerous cream flowers edged with lime green. This hardy phlox is rarely affected by diseases and grows easily in the sun, in fertile, well-drained, moist soil. Its flowers are also very beautiful in cut flower arrangements.

Panicled Phlox ‘Orchid Green’ belongs to the Polemoniaceae family. This cultivar is a horticultural selection of the wild Phlox paniculata, native to the eastern and east-central regions of the United States. A herbaceous perennial, it returns each year after a period of winter dormancy. 'Orchid Green' is distinguished by an extremely rare colour in the genus, larger and more densely flowered panicles than average, better vase life, and good resistance to common foliar diseases (downy mildew, leaf spots) in a sunny location with good air circulation.
This variety has an erect habit; the plant forms a bushy clump reaching 60 to 75cm in height and 50-60cm in spread in open ground, after about 3 years. In a pot, it will reach 50-60cm, depending on the container volume. The above-ground vegetation is deciduous; it emerges in spring and dies back in autumn. The opposite leaves on the stems are lanceolate to elliptic, measure 5 to 12 cm long and are medium to dark green in colour, glossy on top. The flowers, borne in broadly pyramidal, very dense panicles, bloom from July to early September. Each 2-3 cm diameter flower is composed of a tube ending in five rounded, cream white lobes highlighted with a bright lime green edge. This fragrant, very nectar-rich flowering attracts bees and butterflies.