As with most things in life, gardening is a mixed bag of good and bad. The key to survival is to minimize the bad and accentuate the good. Huh? Yeah, I hate it too when I start to get philosophical.

Q: I have a large stand of daisies that got powdery mildew on their leaves this year. They're next to a patch of phlox that are completely covered with it. Can you tell me, is it better to clean off ...

My phlox gets a powdery coating that kills off the plant. I’ve tried cutting back when I first see it, but I usually lose the battle. Powdery mildew is a common, easily recognizable disease that ...

Q. My phlox bloom beautifully but the leaves turn white and the blossoms wilt because of disease. Please tell me how to treat them. Beulah Stone, Muskegon A. Powdery mildew is the most likely culprit.

Cut back creeping phlox right after it finishes blooming in spring if pruning at all. Wait until fall frost kills tall phlox before pruning to the ground; fall pruning is keeps powdery mildew at bay.

Grown well, tall garden phlox are the glory of the midsummer garden, with their lush, vividly-colored flower panicles lending substance to any perennial border. Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy, took ...