This perennial dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: August to October
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  Phlox have always been country garden favourites for their delicious scent and attraction to butterflies and bees. This is a late-flowering variety with clusters of small, starry, fragrant, white flowers in August above dark green leaves. This pretty, long flowering perennial phlox will tolerate full sun or partial shade, but like all phlox, does not like soil that dries out in summer. Try it in the middle of a border, alongside the spikes of salvias or veronicastrums to extend the flowering season into autumn.
  
  
• Garden care: Support with bamboo canes, brushwood or ring stakes before the flowers appear. Phlox are greedy plants, so apply a mulch 5-7cm (2-3in) deep of well-rotted garden compost or manure in early spring. Shear off the spent flowers to prevent reseeding. If the leaves show signs of powdery mildew, cut down to the ground and dispose of the affected foliage, but do not compost it. Clear away the debris around the plant to reduce the chances of reinfection. Cut down to the ground in autumn, and lift and divide large clumps in autumn or spring.