One of the major challenges to Phlox performance in the landscape is the common occurence of the cosmetic disease of powdery mildew. Very little is known about this disease, so a collaboratiave project with the Department of Plant Pathology is underway to examine various aspects of the disease such as analysis of the pathogen, development of an in vitro screening protocol. The ultimate goal of the project is to understand the disease sufficiently to develop effective screening protocols that may permit identification of resistance in the germplasm collection.