Woodland phlox is a Southeastern native that carpets the ground with soft blue, lightly scented flowers in spring, right alongside the dogwoods. Plants stay low, under a foot, with loose green foliage that politely fills space between hostas, ferns, and hellebores.

It belongs in dappled light or morning sun in Birmingham, in soil with some leaf mold or compost worked in. Once settled it tolerates dry shade under trees surprisingly well, and deer usually pass it by. Shear lightly after bloom to tidy the clump; it will slowly seed itself into a natural drift.