Powdery mildew disease is one of those plant diseases that we tend to tolerate, because it's usually not lethal to plants: It just spoils their looks for a while. If you grow a traditional type of Phlox paniculata, perhaps you've been tolerating powdery mildew disease for years. At the same time, putting up with that unsightly powdery film on your plants may be a prime reason why you don't get more joy out of your Phlox paniculata. The solution? Short of trying to cure powdery mildew disease, you could just grow 'David' phlox.
I grow several different breeds of Phlox paniculata (garden phlox), but one of the nicer types I keep in my flock is a cultivar called 'David.' Older types of Phlox paniculata are very susceptible to powdery mildew disease. But newer types like Phlox paniculata 'David' are mildew-resistant, which keeps the foliage nice and healthy looking right through the summer.
Read article: 'David' Phlox
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Comments
Come now David,you grow it because it’s called ‘David’:)
Yes,powdery mildew is often a problem on my phlox.As you say,it rarely kills it but is unsightly.Like mildew on lilacs.
I have noticed that the wild phlox that grow in the woods around me rarely get powdery mildew but my cultivars do.
I love phlox because of its hardiness so I’ll try these mildew resistant varieties.
Cheers and thanks for letting us know.
Hi Scotty,
Yeah, all these recent blog posts on garden phlox are my way of looking ahead to summer. Not that I’m rushing things (I love spring). It’s just that I tend to talk about a lot of spring stuff this time of year, to the exclusion of great plants for other seasons.