Creeping Phlox
Phlox subulata
A low, spreading mat of needle-like leaves that smothers itself in pink, lavender, purple or white flowers in mid-spring, a classic for rock gardens, edging, slopes and walls. It takes heat, drought and sandy soil better than other phlox and shrugs off mildew. Cut it back by half after bloom to keep it dense.
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- Mature size
- 6 in × 2.5 ft
- 0.1 × 0.8 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- Apr–May
Creeping Phlox at its mature size
A mature Creeping Phlox grows to about 6 in tall and 2.5 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Missouri Botanical Garden.
Through the year
What Creeping Phlox looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Winter · Dec–Mar
Semi-evergreen mat still mostly green, a little duller, with a slight olive-bronze cast; a living mat, not dead brown.
In flower · Apr–May
Low mat smothered in bright magenta-pink flowers.
In leaf · Jun–Nov
Low dense mat of needle-like green leaves.
Photos
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Growing Creeping Phlox
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Plains and Mountain West.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Foundation planting, groundcover, drought tolerant, slopes, deer resistant, and pollinators
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- Eastern and Central United States and Canada
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Creeping Phlox, that’s about 2.5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Creeping Phlox in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other phlox
Creeping Phlox
Garden PhloxAll drawn to the same scale.