Phlox subulata-Creeping Phlox-Update

Last summer I dug around my existing Phlox bed, 2009 photo, and ripped off a container’s worth of cuttings and planted a half a dozen sprigs into 1 gallon pots, with no roots to speak of, into a sand/manure mix with bonemeal, because I plan on moving and want some early spring color at my new residence. The accompanying photo shows what I got this spring. Three things to remember when dividing plants to transplant, good soil mixture, bonemeal to stimulate root growth, and water. I prefer transplanting into pots versus soil because I pay closer attention to the containers, watering, then to my overall garden beds. Most people have used pots lying around, but when I ran out I went to E-Bay and bought them from “plasticflowerpots” who sells new 1 gallons in lots of 25, inexpensively. I would never buy used pots, because I have no clue how they were used and some think they are valuable or that consumers are clueless. I recently visited Wal-Mart, who marked down their 1 gallon Azaleas to $2.00 so I bought a few and transplanted them into 3 gallon pots and plan on pinching off the flower buds to push the leaf growth, because they sell at HD, 3 gallon, for just under $20. In NC’s climate I can have a full 3 gallon in a year. Those are the tricks of the trade and don’t allow anyone to tell you differently and why everyone should only purchase 1 gallons and transplant into a larger containers, say a 3 gallon, then in the fall if the plant is a perennial divide the 3 gallon into 1 gallons. In one growing season you can double or triple your plants, then the following spring transplant into your garden bed. It’s called stretching your dollar. Don’t forget to add the bonemeal, because too much super phosphate has a tendency to burn.