Overview and growing conditions

‘Blue Emerald’ phlox is a flowering evergreen that only grows a couple of inches tall and makes an effective groundcover. It flowers best in full sun and doesn’t require additional watering (beyond what it gets from rain) once established.

When does it flower? How long does it flower?

‘Blue Emerald’ starts flowering about two weeks after the early daffodils in my yard bloom, so around mid-spring. It blooms for about 3-4 weeks.

How easy is it to care for ‘Blue Emerald’ phlox?

Overall score: 9 (easy). ‘Blue Emerald’ is incredibly easy to grow. It is planted in one of the most challenging spots in my yard: along the sidewalk, in the baking hot sun all summer, near a silver maple that competes with it for water, and in a spot where it’s constantly visited by neighborhood dogs out on walks. It has still grown and flowered nicely each year.

It does grow to fill in about a three foot space, but it’s not invasive and won’t invade neighboring plants. It shades out most weeds, and the weeds that do get through are easy to pull out since ‘Blue Emerald’ is easy enough to lift up when weeding.

I did take off one point because I find that it needs a haircut after flowering in order to continue looking good throughout the summer. If I skip this step I get more browning in the middle of the plant.

Problems with ‘Blue Emerald’ phlox

None.