Spring Phlox

In the alleys and in overgrown corners of back yards, crowds of phlox find themselves free to rise up and open their flowers. Unlike their many-colored garden cousins, these wildflowers all choose to dress themselves in the same shade of magenta as the blossoming redbuds. The phlox are lovers of dappled light, gathering under trees that have not quite leafed out. I would like to see wild phlox blooming under some blooming redbuds, a sight that would distress those who think that magenta is a somewhat vulgar color. But the redbuds always seem to finish flowering at least a week ahead of the phlox. Enjoying the phlox lit by a shaft of afternoon sunlight is pleasure enough for any spring day.