My creeping phlox

Last year, I planted 112 plugs of creeping phlox underneath my southern magnolia tree. The soil here is sandy loam, and receives a mix of shade and afternoon sun. It had a mix of grass clumps and bare, exposed soil and roots when we moved in. I researched creeping phlox and though it would be really cool to have blanket of it under the tree instead of grass. I understood it grows best in full sun, and that this spot wasn't ideal; but, it also does well in sandy dry soil, so I figured it had a chance to fill a niche here.

I planted it without any soil amendments, or fertilizer, or multch, or landscape fabric; just dug it into the ground and watered well for a month, and then forgot about it.

To my shock, they did extremely well and have grown in size this past year! I wasn't expecting much because I figured it would struggle competing with the grass. There may be hope that it would outcompete the grass after all.