Although it is a native plant in our area, Garden Phlox is more likely to be a garden escape. This plant grew in an overgrown cemetery in Beechview, where its ancestors were probably planted decades ago. It blooms in colors in the white to purple range.

From Gray’s Manual: P. paniculata L. Stem stout, 0.5-1.5 m. high, smooth, or puberulent or villous above; leaves oblong-lanceolate and ovate-lanceolate, pointed, large, tapering or rounded, the upper often heart-shaped at the base; panicle ample, pyramidal-corymbed; calyx smooth or glandular-hispid, the teeth awn-pointed; corolla pink-purple varying to white. (Including P. acuminata Pursh, P. glandulosa Shuttlw., and P. amplifolia Britton.) Open woods, Pa. to Ill., Kan., and southw.; escaped from cultivation northw. July-Sept. Highly variable in outline of leaf, pubescence of leaves, stems, calyx, and corolla, but without concomitant characters.