Add some compost to your soil as you plant your Creeping Phlox. This plant does well in tougher spots, but it does like a feeding of light fertilizer before and after bloom time. It can be trimmed after the blooms have gone by, or it can be left alone. Shearing it down in fall does help it to fill out in the next season. It is drought tolerant once established and quite easy to tend.

Phlox subulata 'Eye Shadow' grows low to the ground but will not be overshadowed by any other plant. It forms a thick mat of needle-like greenery that stays green from spring through fall, with a dense covering of flowers in spring. The flowers are an unusual color for Creeping Phlox. They are a rosy purple that really does look like makeup... vibrant and pretty. As an accent, each tiny flower has a dark purple eye. This mat of color will come back year after year with little care, and as it matures, it will cascade over rocks and other inhospitable turf. Try it as broad edging along a garden border for real impact.

For more information please see our article on choosing, locating, planting and maintaining ground cover plants.