Luminary^® 'Backlight' Tall Garden Phlox Phlox paniculata

These create more work than they're worth. At the end of the seasons, their tall thick stems (like my pinky finger in diameter) are almost bamboo like. It makes for a very ugly landscape seeing all these brown dried out stems all winter long. They won't fall down until you either snap them off at the ground one by one, or, or dig up the plant (for which you need a shovel because they root very strongly.). I tried cutting the dead stalks down with pruning sheers, but they are like cutting small tree saplings. Worse? They spread like wildfire - seeding themselves everywhere the wind can scatter them. And they make a LOT of seeds. The living plants do get powdery mildew if you aren't careful about thinning them out for air circulation. However, thinning them is a major task after the first year - because - they reseed themselves super densely. They also revert to a semi-lilac color in their self-seeded offspring, rather than the white of the original plant. They're a hot mess and I wish they were never introduced to this property.

I planted three of these phlox in early spring of 2022. Within a month some leaves were turning yellow and browning on the lower half. I spoke to a Proven Winners specialist who assured me that the plant would be fine. I treated them with copper fungicide and neem oil at different times. With a lot of work, they rebounded about 85%. I was very pleased to see all three coming back vigorously this year in early spring, but that was short-lived. The lower leaves up to a third of one plant turned yellow and brown. I believe there are spider mites and possibly disease at this point, but it isn't powdery mildew. I really was excited when the Luminary Blacklight phlox were available however, even though I am an experienced gardener in zone 6, Ohio, they are a lot of work.