Hidden Beauty

One of the amazing things about gardens and plants in general is that you can usually find something amazing if you just look a little closer. Case in point, this Phlox paniculata, or garden phlox, that's growing at the end of the driveway. Beautiful plant, but if you look closely, you get these incredible flowers that haven't opened yet, rolled up in a neat little spiral.

These will open up tomorrow or the next day, but they're so neat just like this, and most people never notice them.

Once these flowers open, they are a big hit with the neighborhood butterflies and bees, and make a great garden specimen. Very tall, stout plants with big clusters of flowers and nice foliage. They especially look good in masses with hordes of butterflies feeding on them. They are also fairly easy to propagate, which I'll get to in a later post. For now, just remember to always look closely at the plants in the yard; some of them have hidden beauty.