Cait's Garden

These are the pink phlox that have been handed down in my family for more than 50 years, ever since my grandma moved to a house where they were growing. Wherever she moved, she took them with her, and now my mom and I do the same. They are tall, they are pink, they are hardy. I don’t know what cultivar they are. They aren’t crazy and bi- or tri-colored. But they also never get mildew and they always come back just as robustly in the spring. The same can be said for the no-name pink and purple coneflowers and plain old yellow black-eyed susans. Robust, reliable, gorgeous. I have been seduced by many a “boutique” coneflower, phlox, and rudbeckia over the years. Especially the coneflowers…I fall for the fancy ones every time. But this year, I am drawing a line in the dirt. I am no longer spending $15 on a plant with a fancy name, because there’s an extremely high probability that plant will disappoint. It will come back weak next year, or it won’t come back at all. New cultivars are all flash and little substance. Instead I am moving around clumps of the old reliables to fill in the spots where the boutique flowers have faltered. That’s another thing about the oldies but goodies…they make more of themselves! Endless supply! And really, when faced with a perfect pink phlox, does anyone really care that it doesn’t have a clever name?