Cloudburst combines the strong color of a border phlox with the rounded, dome form of a cushion type. Deep purple buds open to soft purple flowers with bright pink centers, and they blanket a wide, billowing mound nearly to the soil.
It starts blooming in early summer and continues through the season, with a pleasant fragrance. The broad, glossy, dark green leaves resist powdery mildew and stay clean all summer. At about 28 inches tall and 3.5 feet wide, it fills space in the border and is a favorite of pollinators.
What it looks like
Flat, five-petaled flowers about 1 inch across in soft lilac-purple, each with a bright pink eye, open from dark purple buds in loose clusters. The flowers are spread over the entire plant, from the top down nearly to the soil. Leaves are broad, lance-shaped, glossy and dark green on many branching stems. The plant forms a broad, mounding, billowy dome about 28 inches tall and 42 inches wide. At peak bloom the whole mound looks like a soft purple cloud.
Growing it with lavender
Phlox enjoys sun like lavender but wants richer soil and more regular water, so plant it in an adjacent cottage border, where its soft purple flowers pick up as the first lavender bloom winds down.
Care
Plant in full sun for the best flowers, or part shade, in average to fertile, well-drained soil with regular water. Hardy in zones 4-8. Shear spent flower heads after the first flush to encourage more blooms later, and give it room for air to move, which helps keep the leaves clean; it spreads slowly by underground stems.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Phlox
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Flower color: Lilac purple with bright pink eyes
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Foliage: Glossy dark green
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Growth habit: Broad, mounding, billowy dome
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Mature size: 28 in tall × 42 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Mid-June
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Peak bloom: Early-July
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Great
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
