Jamesbrittenia Care - The Ultimate Growing and Design Guide
Meet your new favorite filler and spiller for containers – Safari® Jamesbrittenia, commonly called South African phlox. You’ll find it blooming non-stop from spring to frost in shades of pink, purple and red. Find everything you need to grow and design with this cheerful plant here.
Safari® Dusk™ South African phlox
Meet your new favorite filler and spiller for containers – Safari® Jamesbrittenia, commonly called South African phlox! If these blooms look familiar, you might be thinking of its relative, Bacopa, which has long been a popular plant to use in container recipes. Key bonus features of Safari varieties include an expanded color palette and far greater weather tolerance, including high heat and humidity. You’ll find them blooming non-stop from spring to frost in shades of pink, purple and red, and some with yellow or gold accents, too.
 Safari® Sky |
Key Features of Safari South African phlox:
Where to Grow Safari South African Phlox
The wide-spreading stems of this flowering annual, in addition to its preference for well-drained soil, means it will look and grow best in containers rather than in the ground. Think hanging baskets, patio pots, window boxes and deck rails.
Saffron Sunrise recipe featuring Safari® Dusk™
In Upright Containers - Expect Safari South African phlox to have a mounding shape at first, filling in the middle portion of the container recipe as shown here in our Saffron Sunrise recipe. As its stems grow longer, they will trail up to 24” long over the sides of the upright container or window box.
Athena recipe featuring Safari® Dawn
In Hanging Baskets – Mix Safari South African phlox with other vigorous mounding and trailing plants like Luscious® lantana and Supertunia Mini Vista® petunias as shown in our Athena recipe. Intertwine the stems among its companions as they grow longer.
Video: Safari Sky in Laura’s garden - https://brandfolder.com/s/gp393vgc79rs4wt76hn5fcgz
See how Laura of @GardenAnswer grew Safari Sky South African phlox as an edging plant at the front of her border.
In the Landscape – If your soil tends to be sandy or very well-drained, try growing South African phlox in the ground. If your soil is more clay and tends to stay moist for long periods after it rains, stick to growing this plant in containers.
How to Grow Safari South African Phlox
This easy to grow, low maintenance annual won’t require much from you to thrive all season. Follow the tips below and they will reward you with a full season of non-stop blooms.
Sunlight
Safari South African phlox grows best in full sun to part sun, meaning a minimum of four hours of afternoon sun. Thanks to its strong heat and humidity tolerance, it can also grow in all-day sun. If you are feeding and watering your plants but they aren’t full of blooms, try moving them to a sunnier spot.
Safari Dusk thrives in a self-watering AquaPots Lite planter located in full sun. It’s paired here with Superbells Magic® Double Grapefruit calibrachoa, Supertunia® Royal Velvet® petunias, Jazz Hands Variegated® Loropetalum and Graceful Grasses® ‘Sky Rocket’ annual fountain grass.
Watering
If you’ve ever grown Superbells® calibrachoa or Luscious® lantana, it’s helpful to know that Safari South African phlox has a similar preference for well-drained soil that dries down a bit between each time you water. However, don’t wait for the leaves or stems to wilt or shrivel up – that’s a sure sign that it’s been too long between waterings and the plants are too dry.
When you water, it’s best to soak the soil thoroughly rather than sprinkle it lightly. South African phlox is pretty forgiving when subject to extreme weather events, holding onto its flowers through heavy rains and windstorms compared to its cousin, Bacopa.
If you don’t have much time to water or if you tend to travel in the summertime, consider investing in self-watering AquaPots® or AquaPots Inserts or hooking your containers up to a WaterWise® drip irrigation kit. Both options will save time and water and are very simple to use.
Shop for Proven Winners premium plant foods.
Feeding
Like lantana, bidens and euphorbia, South African phlox isn’t a heavy feeder, so you won’t need to worry about feeding it every week. Instead, mix Proven Winners Continuous Release Plant Food into the soil when you first plant, then top it off again every couple of months.
If you are growing your Safari® plants with other kinds of flowers that prefer to be fed more often, it’s alright to feed them every week or two with Proven Winners Water Soluble Plant Food. The “hungrier” flowers in the container will use up any extra plant food the South African phlox doesn’t need.
Trimming
If your Safari South African phlox begins to look open or a bit tired, an all-over light trim can help tidy the plants back up. Use a clean pair of scissors or pruning shears to trim up any scraggly stems by as much as one-third. When you’re finished, give the plant a dose of Proven Winners water soluble plant food for instant energy that will jumpstart new growth and blooms. The plant will spend about a week recovering from the trim, but will end up being fuller and more floriferous as a result.
It's important to note that Safari South African phlox is self-cleaning. That means it sheds the spent blooms naturally and new ones form in their place without any intervention. Who wants to spend their summer picking at their plants? Safari take care of themselves!
Feeling Happy recipe featuring Safari® Sky
What to Grow with Safari South African Phlox
This medium-vigor annual pairs well with other kinds of annuals that grow at an average rate. Take care not to pair it with very vigorous plants or you’ll risk it getting lost in the mix. Look for companions that also prefer full sun to part sun and won’t mind if the soil dries down a bit between each time you water.
These plants thrive in combination with Safari®:
Hungry for more? Grow further with these resources:
