Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aurinia saxatilis (syn. Alyssum saxatile)

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 10″.  Basket-of-Gold.  Central Europe to Turkey.   A mat-forming perennial with woody roots that features grey-green spatulate basal leaves to 5″ long and smaller linear-oblanceolate stem leaves. Bright yellow flowers in corymbose panicles bloom in spring.  Particularly attractive in rock gardens, sprawled over rocks or cascaded over rock walls. After bloom, it will remain in the garden as an attractive ground cover unless the foliage dies back from hot summer conditions. Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Schivereckia doefleri (syn. Draba doerfleri)

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6”.  Eastern Europe. A tough and attractive dwarf cushion with grey-green loose rosettes of oblanceolate, slightly toothed leaves. Four-petalled white flowers in terminal racemes of up to fifteen in late spring.  Long-lasting, buff-coloured seedheads follow.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Jasione laevis

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(B/P) to 12″.  Shepherd’s Scabious.  Western Europe.  Globose, terminal heads of pale blue, narrow-petalled, pincushion-like flowers on slender stalks arise from densely tufted rosettes of lanceolate, wavy-edged foliage.  Blooms midsummer.  A plant of dry, open grassland and rocky cliffs.  May prove to be biennial, so allow to self-sow.  A charmer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aethionema schistosum

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6″.  Turkish Stone Cress.  Turkey and Lebanon.  Erect, woody stems with narrow, blue-green foliage produce rounded heads of rosy lilac, four-petalled flowers in early summer.  Interesting multi-coloured, flat seed capsules follow and persist.  A welcome self-sower.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Campanula rigidipila

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(P) to 12″.  This rare plant is the world’s most southerly occurring Campanula from Ethiopia and the Kenyan highlands.  From a clump of thick, triangular, hairy, grey-green leaves, arise strong, erect stems carrying pale buds that open to lovely, clear blue bells with flared tips edged with white hairs.  Summer-blooming.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Symphyandra zangezura (syn. Campanula zangezura)

Family: Campanulaceae

(P) to 10″.  Armenia.  A delightful, short-lived perennial for the rock garden.  Slender, wiry stems with pendulous, violet-blue bells in sparse terminal racemes.  Dark green serrated foliage.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Dianthus turkestanicus

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(P) to 12″.  China and Kazakhstan.  This gem forms mats of blue-green, fine foliage.  Fringed, pale pink, scented flowers cover the plant in mid-May.  Sun and well-drained soil.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Sedum kamtschaticum

Family: (Crassulaceae)

(P) to 8″.  Japan to Kamchatka.  Spreading clumps of fleshy, obovate, bright green foliage with irregularly scalloped margins create a thick mat for sunny areas.  Unbranched flower stalks produce flattened cymes of deep yellow, starry flowers appearing as a veritable carpet of gold.  Beautiful when creeping along the edge of a pathway or spilling out of a crevice.  Mid to late summer.  Accommodating and tough.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Saponaria officinalis 'Nana'

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(P) to 15″.  A darling, dwarf Soapwort or Bouncing Bet.  European native.  This stoutly branched perennial has pale green, ovate leaves with parallel veins.  The large, pink, five-petalled flowers in small terminal clusters appear in July and last until September.  The genus name is from the Latin saponis meaning ‘soap’ and aria, meaning ‘pertaining to’, together referring to the juice of the leaves and root that can make a soap. Why not try your hand at soap-making?  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hypericum hirsutum

Family: (Hypericaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Hairy St. John’s Wort.  Found in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, this downy plant has erect stems and opposite pairs of un-toothed, elongated oval leaves with translucent glandular dots.  The loose cylindrical to narrowly pyramidal inflorescence has many pale yellow flowers of five pointed sepals with interesting black glands along the margins.  The five petals are narrowly elliptic with translucent glands and sometimes veined red.  The many long, showy stamens are in bundles and fused at the base, surrounding the green pistil of three fused carpels.  The fruit is a many-seeded, three-part capsule that appears at the same time as flowers.  Grows happily on our Rock Ledge in full sun and well-drained soil.  3 & T1