Hi Joe, Are you having trouble with creeping phlox or the tall ones? The creeping phlox tends to die back this time of the year. If it is the tall phlox , I'd agree with Mary. I have also cut back my tall phlox when it has gone into a slump, kept the soil moist and they tend to come back fully. Jo

Woody lives! You should prune off any damaged or obviously dead branches back to a growing point, such as another branch. It's a little hard to tell, but I think you've planted Woody a bit too deep. Some of his root flair, where the trunk widens and starts to become root material, should be above the soil.

cut down to 3 inches.. skip magical root stuimulators.. or any other cost.. or fert ... water properly .. doubt you can kill the things .. i would have probably cut them down.. before i dug them up ... as flowers themselves... are always immediately sacrificed when doing this in the heat of summer .. again ... doubt you can kill the things ... besides.. you know where you can get more ... lol i might also have put them in a pot in damp media.. and put them in full shade.. and planted them in sept or so ... if they were more valuable plants.. worth the effort ... 'holding them over' if you will never forget.. just because you get your grubby hands on something.. does NOT mean its planting time ... many of the hardcore..have dozens of pots of stuff like this.. to plant in fall ... ken

I agree that you should check water levels in the soil, but if you've been having the same kind of heat and dryness we have, it may not be enough with a drip system. It depends on how much the emitters are putting out. Regardless, you need to change the schedule. Frequent, short stints of watering keeps the water near the surface, and so that's where the roots grow. Your plants will be healthier in the long run if you water for a longer period of time less frequently. In my established gardens I might run a sprinkler for 5 or 6 hours but only every 10 days to 3 weeks if there isn't enough rain, depending on the plants and soil. With newer plants, I'd water every 2-4 days for a longer time period so that the water can really sink in which will encourage deep roots and therefore more drought resisitant plants in the long run. How often depends on your soil type, weather (how much rain you've had and the temperature) and what your fingers tell you about soil moisture 3"-4" down. My soil is fairly well-drained, so if you have clay, what works for me would be really different for you. For the mildew on the phlox, it won't hurt the plants' survival IME, but it can look homely. For now if you want you can remove the worse of the diseased leaves and put in the trash. In future years, if you prune out some of the stems to allow good air circulation, that may help. Be sure this fall to cut all the stems back to the ground and remove all the phlox leaves and put them in the trash (not a compost pile), since the disease spores overwinter in the plants' debris. If in future years they continue to look diseased, try replacing with a type that is known to be mildew resistant. Ask on the perennials forum about which types have been healthy for gardeners there. 'David' is one that comes to mind, but I know there are others. For something like a wedding, I'd add more annuals if that is in the budget. A few good-looking pots, as big as you can afford, sprinkled around the garden will be fine, and cut the dead flowers off the perennials so they will provide a tidy green background. But as lisanti says you two are the focus, not the garden. Enjoy the day and the long-term blessings! Edited to add: GG48 and I were writing at the same time, but she was a lot more succinct!