Phlox Paniculata Sweet Summer Snow
Phlox paniculata, Sweet Summer Snow is a hardy perennial, that will be happy in sun or semi-shade and almost any soil. This is a short stemmed variety which will do well in a pot. Bees and butterflies will find the flowers irresistible. So I am assured by Farmer Gracy. Phlox in this form is completely new to me. I do have a couple of old creeping phlox but have never had the shrubby paniculata type.
After a short soak in water I am planting this into quite a small pot to grow on a llittle before I decide what size of pot it needs.
Update 7th May 2024 – For ten years or more I have had a very large blue ceramic pot, bought by Adam and Kirstie, by my kitchen door. It has housed many different plants over the years This year I decided that it needed emptying and new compost put in. I did the job this morning and when it was finished decided to put this Phlox in as a centre piece. I am still going to leave the new plant in the small pot to grow more roots and put that pot into the large one. When it is more established I can remove the small pot and plant directly into the blue one.
We paid a visit to Wilkos on this very snowy morning with the intention of buying a cat carrier. I came back with my first flower buy of this year in the form of a Dahlia Tuber. White Dahlia Pompon Snowflake. According to the package these Pompom Dahlias produce fabulous double spherical blooms and so I am looking forward to seeing them in my garden this year. Each flower head is made up of layers of silky, inwardly curved petals creating a perfectly formed sphere. Tall sturdy stems provide excellent support and give the pompon its iconic habit of bobbing in the breeze. Dahlias are quite easy to grow requiring only well-drained soil and a sunny position. The advice is to dig in manure or compost and top with general purpose fertiliser for best results. Dahlias are invaluable for the summer border, in patio containers or as cut flowers, often flowering until the first frosts. Flowering from July to October these plants can reach a height of 3′. I have grown Dahlias before many years ago at the allotment but this one looks spectacular. I plan to plant these tubers in a large container in March, weather permitting. 
While in growth provide a high nitrogen liquid feed each week in June then a high-potash fertiliser each week from July to September. Stake with canes if it becomes necessary. Dead head regularly to encourage more and bigger flower heads. In mild areas, leave them in situ over winter but protect the crown with a generous layer of mulch. In colder areas lift and clean the tubers once the first frosts have blackened the foliage and allow them to dry naturally indoors. Then place the dry tubers in a shallow tray just covered with slightly moist potting compost, sand or vermiculite and store in a frost free place until planting out again.
I bought an addition to my longed for Viola collection today. It is the White Wood Violet, Viola Albiflora. This is a herbaceous perennial plant with the leaves and flowers emerging directly from the rhizomes and forming a basal rosette. A mature plant may be 6″ across and 4″ high with the flowers rising higher than the leaves. The leaves are heart shaped as on Freckles. The flowers of this form of Viola Sororia are white except for delicate violet lines radiating from the throat of the flower. There is no noticeable scent. They flower for about six weeks emerging from mid to late spring according to the weather. During the summer cleistogamous flowers without petals produce seeds, which are flung outward by mechanical ejection from the three-parted seed capsules. The root system consists of thick, horizontally branched rhizomes with a tendency to form vegetative colonies. As they are woodland plants they prefer dappled shade.