2022 Plant of the Year, Winner

Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’, commonly known as woodland phlox has been named the 2022 Plant of the Year: Freeman Medal winner by The Garden Club of America! Annually, the GCA identifies a stellar North American native plant to receive the Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal: GCA Plant of the Year. Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon' was discovered by William Cullina, Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, while he was working at the New England Wildflower Society.

“It’s a champ” was the sentiment from this year’s Freeman Medal selection committee of distinguished horticulturists. Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’ is mildew resistant with vibrant blue long lasting blooms along with winter interest. The cultivar 'Blue Moon'  has the largest petals of any of the Phlox divaricata cultivars with fragrant, billowy tufts of lilac-blue flowers throughout April and May creating a spectacular and long-lasting show in early spring. The 2022 Freeman Medal winner is a valuable early-season pollen source for bees and swallowtail butterflies as well as a nectar source for hummingbirds. 

This phlox is suitable for shade gardens, woodland gardens, cottage gardens, rain gardens, low-maintenance gardens, and perennial borders and is also an excellent groundcover. Garden writer Ketzel Levine aptly notes that “the species Phlox divaricata's strength is not as a specimen but as a mingler, chatting its way across the woodland floor."