Phlox divaricata ‘Mary Helen’

Description from Wayside Gardens

Slowly spreads up to 20 inches wide, choking out weeds, keeping in soil moisture, and covering bare soil beautifully!

Profuse blooms blanket the foliage for weeks on end

Superbly floriferous and so colorful, these magenta-streaked purple blooms complement the Daffodils and froth at the feet of the Muscari in early spring! The perfect overplanting for spring-blooming bulbs, the lightly shaded border, or bare slopes and banks, this tightly-matting groundcover chokes out weeds, keeps moisture in the soil, and looks magnificent long after bloomtime.

The flowers are small, 5-petaled, and soft lilac-purple with magenta-red strokes, held above the foliage so that at the height of bloom, scarcely a trace of green can be seen! Yet this is never an invasive or even aggressive plant, meandering rather than romping through the garden, and actually spreads rather slowly, achieving 12 to 20 inches after a season or two. Just 12 to 15 inches high when in bloom, after the early-spring flowers pass it is only a few inches high but dense and attractive.

'Mary Helen' fares well in light shade and any well-drained soil. It is among the easiest and most beautiful of groundcovers, welcoming spring into the garden with a bold flourish. Zones 4-8.

• Genus Phlox
• Species divaricata
• Variety 'Mary Helen'
• Bloom Season Early Spring
• Habit Prostrate
• Zone 4 – 8
• Plant Height 12 in – 15 in
• Plant Width 12 in – 20 in
• Item Form 4-inch Pot
• Additional Characteristics Easy Care Plants, Free Bloomer, Bloom First Year
• Bloom Color Light Magenta, Light Purple
• Foliage Color Medium Green
• Light Requirements Part Shade
• Moisture Requirements Moist, well-drained
• Soil Tolerance Clay, Normal, loamy
• Uses Beds, Border, Containers, Ground Cover
• Restrictions CAN, HI, PR