Phlox Paniculata 'Peacock White'
Garden Phlox is a great tall summer blooming perennial plant to sneak into your peony beds to give them color long after your peony blooms have faded. Phlox Paniculata (Garden Phlox) is the taller variety of phlox. There is also Phlox subulata (Creeping Phlox) which is generally more common in my area. However both of them will grow equally well here, and Garden Phlox makes a taller plant that will show off well around your peony bushes when they are no longer in bloom. Also Garden Phlox comes in a wide range of colors to suit any color palette - hot pinks, pale pinks, oranges, purples, lavenders, and whites.
Pink Garden Phlox
The really great thing about Garden Phlox is that it will bloom all summer long. It starts blooming around the first of June here (just about the time peonies have finished blooming) and goes well into September or October. Usually it will have a first huge flush of flower heads and then keep up it's blooming here and there until fall. If you'd rather have another flush of flower heads, you can deadhead all of the flower heads, and the plant will regrow new ones (trying to make seeds for reproduction). This will give you another round of fresh flowers on the plants.
Phlox of Many Colors - Pink, Pale Pink, & Coral
Since Garden Phlox gets started blooming just as your peonies are finishing, it makes a great plant to add some color to your peony beds. Just be careful to give it enough space. Phlox plants can grow about as large as a peony. So don't plant them too close to your peonies, so they don't compete with your peony plants for water and nutrients. Give them enough space to do their thing, and they will be a happy (and colorful) companion to your peonies (for years and years)! Also since Phlox does produce seed, you may want to remove the seed heads in the fall to prevent reproduction (or leave them if you'd like a few new colors of baby Phlox plants to add to your garden).
White and Lavender Tall Garden Phlox
Growing in Peony Garden
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