Patent Application
20190059195
Botanical designation: Phlox carolina.
Cultivar denomination: ‘ROSE BOUQUET’.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct Phlox plant, botanically known as Phlox carolina and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Rose Bouquet’.
The new Phlox plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. The objective of the breeding program is to create new vigorous Phlox plants with early flowering habit, attractive leaf and flower coloration and resistance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Phlox plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in May, 2013 of Phlox carolina ‘Minnie Pearl’, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with Phlox carolina ‘Kim’, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Phlox plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. in June, 2014.
Asexual reproduction of the new Phlox plant by vegetative stem cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. since September, 2014 has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the new Phlox plant have not been observed under all possible combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘Rose Bouquet’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Rose Bouquet’ as a new and distinct Phlox plant:
1. Compact, upright and mounding plant form.
2. Vigorous growth habit and rapid growth rate.
3. Freely basal branching habit; dense and full plants.
4. Early and freely flowering habit.
5. Large inflorescences with light red purple-colored flowers.
6. Resistance to Powdery Mildew.
Plants of the new Phlox differ from plants of the female parent, ‘Minnie Pearl’, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox are more compact than plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’.
2. Plants of the new Phlox have shorter internodes and are denser than and not as open as plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’.
3. Plants of the new Phlox are more freely branching than plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’.
4. Inflorescences of plants of the new Phlox are taller than and have more flowers than inflorescences of plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’.
5. Plants of the new Phlox flower for a longer period of time than plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’.
6. Plants of the new Phlox and ‘Minnie Pearl’ differ in flower color as plants of ‘Minnie Pearl’ have white-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Phlox differ from plants of the male parent, ‘Kim’, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox are more freely flowering than plants of ‘Kim’.
2. Plants of the new Phlox flower for a longer period of time than plants of ‘Kim’.
3. Plants of the new Phlox have larger flowers than plants of ‘Kim’.
Plants of the new Phlox can be compared to plants of Phlox x hybrida ‘Aurora’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,264. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Phlox and ‘Aurora’ differ in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox are more compact than plants of ‘Aurora’.
2. Plants of the new Phlox are more freely flowering than plants of ‘Aurora’.
3. Plants of the new Phlox flower for a longer period of time than plants of ‘Aurora’.
4. Plants of the new Phlox have larger flowers than plants of ‘Aurora’.
5. Plants of the new Phlox and ‘Aurora’ differ in flower color as plants of ‘Aurora’ have white and pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Phlox can also be compared to plants of Phlox carolina X Phlox maculata ‘Zenith’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,266. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Phlox and ‘Zenith’ differ in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Phlox are more compact than plants of ‘Zenith’.
2. Plants of the new Phlox are more freely flowering than plants of ‘Zenith’.
3. Plants of the new Phlox flower for a longer period of time than plants of ‘Zenith’.
4. Plants of the new Phlox and ‘Zenith’ differ in flower color as plants of ‘Zenith’ have pink-colored flowers..
The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Phlox plant showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photographs may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors of the new Phlox plant.
The photograph on the first sheet comprises a side perspective view of typical flowering plants of ‘Rose Bouquet’ grown in a container.
The photograph on the second sheet is a close-up view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Rose Bouquet’.
The aforementioned photographs and following observations, measurements and values describe plants grown during the spring and early summer in one-gallon containers in a polyethylene-covered greenhouse in Upper Tyrone Township, Pa. and under cultural practices typical of Phlox production. During the production of the plants, day temperature ranged from 15° C. to 26° C. and night temperatures ranged from 5° C. to 15° C. Plants were two years old when the photographs and description were taken. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.
