Phlox ‘Jeana’

* Common name: Phlox ‘Jeana’

* Botanical name: Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’

* What it is: An upright, summer-blooming, pollinator-friendly native perennial flower with mildly fragrant lavender-pink flower spikes in mid to late summer. Reputedly very resistant to powdery mildew (a leaf disease that’s the bane of most tall garden phlox).

* Size: 3 feet tall. Space 2 to 2½ feet apart.

* Where to use: Perennial borders, cut-flower gardens, any sunny bed or bank. Full sun for best bloom.

* Care: Keep damp the first season, then water usually not needed. Scatter balanced organic granular fertilizer such as Flower-tone or Plant-tone over the bed in early spring. Snip off flower stems after bloom if you’re neat. Otherwise, let birds eat the seedheads over winter. Let foliage stand over winter… trim off any browned-out growth in early spring. Can be divided then, too.

* Great partner: Purple coneflowers, asters, sedum (all other sun-loving perennials).