Grew these wonderful little flowers from seed, in a container, last summer. They lasted till winter & weathered some terrible storms & quickly bounced back, all bright & cheerful.

Decided to grow some more but they took quite a while to germinate last time, so this time I made a mini glasshouse from two supermarket plastic carrybags. Hoped this would speed up germination. This method had been successful with our Extra Dwarf Tom Thumb balsam seeds. Planted a packet of "Vegas Lights" seeds five days ago.

No pic, as it doesn't look pretty

The first time I grew the "Vegas Lights" phlox from seed, it took 17 days for them to start popping up. Using the mini glasshouse made from the plastic carrybags it has only taken them about seven days to start appearing. Shall remove the "greenhouse tomorrow.

Took the plastic carrybags mini greenhouse off today & was pleasantly surprised by how many tiny seedlings there were. Hope more do emerge, though. It is only 12 days since I planted them, so they have done well. These have to be sown where you want them to grow as they do not like being transplanted. They are supposed to be thinned out but I didn't worry about that last time & they thrived, flowering non-stop for several months, right through winter.

Today's pic after the unveiling.

These teeny seedlings are growing very well. There is slug & snail bait on the soil, just in case.

This pic was taken today, three days after opening the mini greenhouse.

A week after opening the mini greenhouse & the seedlings are growing well. Have sprinkled some slug & snail bait, just in case. The seedlings are sitting above the ground but these nasties can climb, albeit slowly.

Today's images of the "Vegas Lights" phlox seedlings. They are doing very well.

The seedlings continue to grow well & are looking good. This pic was taken a couple of days ago so they would have grown a bit more since then.

The "Vegas Lights" phlox are still looking good & seem to be growing very well. Using the supermarket plastic carrybags mini greenhouse appears to have given these seeds a good start. Would recommend this method to anyone who wants to grow plants from seed.

They continue to grow so well. Keep putting snail & slug bait on the soil to try & keep the slimy critters at bay but something else is eating it. Bruiser thinks it could be mice. Wouldn't be too good for them, I'd imagine.

The "Veags Lights" phlox buds are starting to show, so flowers may not be long in arriving. This is good news.

Well, here is the first "Vegas Lights" phlox flower. It is a pale salmon pink instead of the more common cherry pink. It should be joined by others soon.

Here are the "Vegas Lights" phlox eight days later. They sure have gone into overdrive with their blooming. There are probably more by now.

Here are half of the flowers. There are a couple of creamy white ones which didn't happen with the first lot of phlox seeds.

The other half. There are still more buds to open & quite a bit of growing to happen.

This is fantastic Joy. Real gardening they are doing so well and look really strong.

Thanks Dawn. They are a great little flower. So bright & cheerful & will cope with all kinds if weather. Well our kind of weather, that is, don't know about frost.

We don't get frost normally, so they could do well here!

Mine went well through winter so they should do all right in Capetown, Dawn. Some Northern Hemisphere flowers do better for me during autumn & winter. Think they find summer a bit warm though phlox seem to like the heat.

Here is another pic of the cheery little "Vegas Lights" phlox taken two days ago. They will thicken up as they grow side branches.

One of the plants has intrigued me as this colour wasn't in the previous lot we grew. It is a creamy white.

Oops, have been neglecting taking pics of these cheery little plants. The weather hasn't been all that great for taking pictures these past few weeks, though. Have taken some over the past few days. They have grown quite a bit.

The creamy white flowers stand out amongst these cherry red & pink flowers.

In the morning sun a couple of days ago. That is New Guinea Orange impatiens under them.

They, definitely, have developed a trailing habit.

Pic taken this morning.

Some cheery looking "Vegas Lights" phlox in the morning sun.

The bright & cheerful "Vegas Lights" phlox looked especially cheery this morning.

The first pic is of the white with pink/mauve striped centres.