Opening Act Romance has an unusually low, wide, nearly dome-shaped habit for a hybrid phlox, about 20 to 22 inches tall and up to 3 feet across. Rich lilac-pink flowers with small white halos open two to three weeks before tall garden phlox.
It resists mildew and other leaf diseases and spreads slowly by stolons. Shear it after the first flush and it will bloom again later in the season. Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds visit the flowers.
What it looks like
Flat, five-petaled flowers about 1 inch across in rich lilac pink, each with a small white halo at the center, are clustered at the tips of many branching stems. Leaves are lance-shaped, glossy and dark green in pairs along the stems. The plant forms a low, wide, nearly dome-shaped mound about 20 to 22 inches tall and 32 to 36 inches wide. At peak bloom the dome is evenly covered in pink flowers.
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 lilac-pink 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: Rich lavender pink with a small white halo
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Foliage: Glossy dark green
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Growth habit: Low, wide dome
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Mature size: 20–22 in tall × 32–36 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: Late-June
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Bloom pattern: Repeat 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
