Jan Verschoor has been working for a number of years crossing Phlox in the search for new varieties.  

Phlox 'Peppermint Twist' growing at Darwin PlantSpotters HQ  

During his travels he's been gathering up specimens from around the world which have good breeding qualities such as interesting colour, large flowers, good mildew resistance and short habit.  

The current demand for shorter Phlox has been a very influencial factor in his breeding and selection work, and Jan has already introduced a whole series of shorter varieties. See the story "Short Phlox in High Demand" under " Other varieties" on Jan's breeder pages for more about these.

Phlox 'Peppermint Twist' growing at Jan Verschoor's nursery  

Phlox 'Peppermint Twist' is a fortunate bi-product of this project, as it is a mutation of a pink variety he introduced in 2006 called 'Candy Floss' (this is the English equivalent term of the US ' Cotton Candy'.

Phlox 'Candy Floss'  

P. 'Candy Floss' is a low-growing paniculata hybrid with good strength and mildew resistance. P. 'Peppermint Twist' has inherited these qualities while giving us an absolute treat of a flower pattern to look at.  

At first glance P. 'Peppermint Twist's flowers resemble those of P. maculata 'Natascha'. But P. 'Natascha's colouring is more violet-pink than the pure pink of P. 'Peppermint Twist'. More importantly P. 'Peppermint Twist' is a much stronger plant than P. 'Natascha' due to it being a paniculata hyrid rather than a maculata species plant.