The difference between Dame's Rocket and Phlox is the # of petals -- DR has
4 and P has 5; and bloom time -- P is a later bloomer and DR blooms in
spring. Also, DR is not a good plant, as it self-seeds prolifically and is
highly invasive, which is probably why you're seeing it all along the
roadways. More info on it's invasive nature from the USDA:
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topic...i&symbol=HEMA3

Suzy O, Zone 5, Wisconsi
"RWL" GeoLane_NOSPAM_ @evenlink.com wrote in message
...

What is the name of the blue / white / lavender colored wildflowers
growing along the roadsides currently in central PA. A couple of us
at work had heard them called "Phlox", but they don't look like the
Phlox in my wildflower book

.........snip..........

I agree with Sue/SugarChile: sounds like Dame's Rocket (Hesperis
matronalis), a non-native (but widely spread) plant in the cabbage
family.

Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) it is! Thanks. I went back and
looked for the name in my wildflower books, but only one - the little
paper back guide even had the name. The drawing in that book was ok,
but it had it classified as a white flower, and most of the ones
around here are blue, so I missed it. The description does mention
that it's sometimes incorrectly identified as Phlox, which explains
why some of us had heard it referred to as Phlox.

Thanks for all who responded
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