The Phlox is an American plant, first introduced to Europe in the early 1800s. Déruchette is growing a flower that would have been relatively unusual in British gardens in the 1820s and virtually unknown in France, and which we might assume Hugo had seen in Guernsey gardens, with its close maritime links to America. Phlox maculata ‘Natasha’ is of a species commonly known in the USA as the meadow phlox, or wild sweet william. It is a mildew resistant species, which is an advantage in Guernsey’s humid atmosphere, and the flowers are scented. The bright red colour of some other species of phlox gave it its name, ‘fire flower’, and as such it may recall the symbolism of the ember-red poppies of the field Cosette wears as a crown in Les Misérables.