I've seen a very deep purple coloured phlox in a pub garden and would like
to grow something similar. Can anyone recommend varieties in this colour, my
initial thoughts might be "amethyst" but the trouble with on-line pictures
is that they are not always accurate in colour especially for shades of blue
and purple

TIA

Andrew

"Andrew Newton" wrote
I've seen a very deep purple coloured phlox in a pub garden and would
like to grow something similar. Can anyone recommend varieties in this
colour, my initial thoughts might be "amethyst" but the trouble with
on-line pictures is that they are not always accurate in colour
especially for shades of blue and purple

I've just read a Carol Klein article about Phlox in a back issue of
Garden News. If it's any help she says: "If you like the dramatic, there
are rich purples, and Phlox paniculata "Amethyst" is a very attractive
variety". No picture though.

There's also a deep purple one with variegated foliage if you like the
contrast, which was bred by Alan Bloom and called "Harlequin", although
she says it's not quite so vigorous.

Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might be
willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's worth
a try.

--
Sue

On 2/9/06 13:44, in article
ws.net, "Sue"
wrote:

snip

Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might be
willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's worth
a try.

You and Janet made me think of the old GQT joke about "when do you take
cuttings?" to which the answer was "when the owner's not looking"! ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sue" wrote in message
reenews.net...

"Andrew Newton" wrote
I've seen a very deep purple coloured phlox in a pub garden and would
like to grow something similar. Can anyone recommend varieties in this
colour, my initial thoughts might be "amethyst" but the trouble with
on-line pictures is that they are not always accurate in colour
especially for shades of blue and purple

I've just read a Carol Klein article about Phlox in a back issue of
Garden News. If it's any help she says: "If you like the dramatic, there
are rich purples, and Phlox paniculata "Amethyst" is a very attractive
variety". No picture though.

There's also a deep purple one with variegated foliage if you like the
contrast, which was bred by Alan Bloom and called "Harlequin", although
she says it's not quite so vigorous.

Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might be
willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's worth
a try.

--
Sue
T

Thanks for the info Sue. Unfortunately the pub is about 80 miles from home.
Perhaps the moral of the story is to always carry a pruning knife and a
supply of plastic bags wherever you go !

Andrew

On 2/9/06 17:00, in article , "Andrew
Newton" wrote:
snip

I've just read a Carol Klein article about Phlox in a back issue of
Garden News. If it's any help she says: "If you like the dramatic, there
are rich purples, and Phlox paniculata "Amethyst" is a very attractive
variety". No picture though.

There's also a deep purple one with variegated foliage if you like the
contrast, which was bred by Alan Bloom and called "Harlequin", although
she says it's not quite so vigorous.

Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might be
willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's worth
a try.


Thanks for the info Sue. Unfortunately the pub is about 80 miles from home.
Perhaps the moral of the story is to always carry a pruning knife and a
supply of plastic bags wherever you go !

We looked P. 'Amethyst' up in Plant Finder and it says it's 'misapplied'.
You could try looking at P. Lilactime or Purple Flame. But there are quite
a few that description could apply to.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote
"Sue" wrote:
Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might
be willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's
worth a try.

You and Janet made me think of the old GQT joke about "when do you
take cuttings?" to which the answer was "when the owner's not
looking"! ;-)

:-)

MInd you, some folk aren't content with the odd sneaky cutting. Someone
told me when they held an open gardens day along with several others in
their village, they had whole plants go missing!

--
Sue

On 3/9/06 23:22, in article
ws.net, "Sue"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote
"Sue" wrote:
Was the one you saw at a pub nearby? Perhaps the landlord/lady might
be willing to let you have a piece of theirs if you asked them; it's
worth a try.

You and Janet made me think of the old GQT joke about "when do you
take cuttings?" to which the answer was "when the owner's not
looking"! ;-)

:-)

MInd you, some folk aren't content with the odd sneaky cutting. Someone
told me when they held an open gardens day along with several others in
their village, they had whole plants go missing!

That's pretty horrifying. We know that happens occasionally here to things
in pots but to snitch entire plants from a garden is really awful.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

In article , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from "Andrew Newton" contains these words:


Perhaps the moral of the story is to always carry a pruning knife and a
supply of plastic bags wherever you go !

:-)

A supply of used envelopes is also useful, for collecting seed.

Janet


I use those tiny envelopes they are easier to manage, though greaseproof
paper bags are even better as you can write on them and tie the necks
tight if collecting entire seedheads.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article ews.net,
Sue writes

MInd you, some folk aren't content with the odd sneaky cutting. Someone
told me when they held an open gardens day along with several others in
their village, they had whole plants go missing!




I always ask about cuttings, but then I usually give back either a
rooted cutting of whatever I am trying or another plant as it seems only
fair. I do have several friends who open their gardens for NGS so they
have fairly large gardens and large shrubs from which, when they are
pruning back, I can get a lot of entertainment!

Trouble is, I have all sorts of cuttings that I like the look of, but
the owners either inherited the plants and don't know the names or have
forgotten the names anyway

Janet
--
Janet
Hedgerows & lawns
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/plants

I've been growing 'Amethyst' for a couple of years. It does have a nice 'blue' mauve shade, but the colour morphs according to the time of day! It has a blue tinge in the morning, turns magenta in bright mid-day sun, and turns back to its blueish form in the evening! I've never seen this colour changing habit reported anywhere, but have just seen an American website where the same thing is reported of the purple variety 'Nicky'- with a sequence of photos to prove it! It is normal for flower colours to change as the flower ages, in a one-way process. But it appears that with phlox that the flowers can shift from a blueish tinge, to magenta and back again. It appears to be the strength of sunlight which triggers it, so perhaps planting them in a shady area might help. But it does make it very difficult to know what colour you are buying, as it is not simply the quality of the illustrating photo that has to be considered, but when in the day the photo was taken!
I too am looking for a really deep purple phlox. My family used to have one years ago, and the colour didn't seem to change. I'd love to get another one. but the deep purples seem hard to find these days. It must have been one of the older varieties- any suggestions please?
Regards,
Andre