The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phlox plant, botanically known as Phlox paniculata, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Junior Surprise.
The new Phlox is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Zwaanshoek, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact Phlox cultivars with attractive flower coloration and resistance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Phlox originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1996 in Zwaanshoek, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Phlox paniculata identified as code number 96.05.48, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Phlox paniculata identified as code number 96.05.72, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Phlox was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Zwaanshoek, The Netherlands in 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Zwaanshoek, The Netherlands since 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.