Alpine, Rock, Miniature, Bonsai and Railroad Gardens

Showing 85–88 of 110 results

  • Saponaria ocymoides Rock soapwort Z 4-8

    Cheery pink soapwort, in late spring, hugs the ground

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Cheery pink soapwort, in late spring, hugs the ground. Good for rock gardens, front of border or groundcover.

    Size: 3" x 18"
    Care: Sun, well-drained soil, cut back hard after flowering
    Native: Spain to Yugoslavia

    Both the botanical and common names come from the plant’s use as soap, the leaves “yeelde out of themselves a certain juice when they are bruised, which scoureth almost as well as sope.”  Gerard (1633).  Soapwort is still used today by antique and art restorers for its gentle cleaning: chop dried leaves and roots, boil in water for 5 minutes, and then agitate to make suds.  William Robinson, father of today’s mixed perennial border gardens, praised this as bearing “masses of rosy blooms.”  American garden cultivation since 1800’s.  Received England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

  • Scabiosa japonica var. alpina Alpine pincushion flower Z 4-9

    Lavender-blue pincushions over mound of gray-green foliage, blooms June-September

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    $8.25/bareroot

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    Lavender-blue pincushions over mound of gray-green foliage, blooms June-September

    Size: 6-12” x 12”
    Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil
    Native: Japan’s subalpine meadows
    Wildlife Value: attracts bees, butterflies and birds

    Described by Japanese botanist Hosayoshi Takeda before 1962.

  • Scutellaria alpina Alpine skullcap Z 5-9

    Mounds of two-toned snapdragon-like flowers July - October.

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    OUT OF STOCK

    Bailey (1913): “A hardy spreading perennial about 10 in. high, with ovate, serrately dentate leaves and large, purple and white, somewhat yellowish flowers in dense, terminal racemes. … A handsome rock or low border perennial.” Mounds of two-toned snapdragon-like flowers July – October.

    Size: 6-10” x 12”
    Care: Sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
    Native: Pyrenees, Appennines to the Balkans; central Russia to southern Siberia

    Linnaeus’ imaginative mind named this genus after the Latin sculellum meaning “a little dish,” because of its resemblance to the flower’s helmet-shaped calyx. In gardens before 1753.

  • Sedum album White stonecrop Z 4-8

    Rounded leaflets green turning red in fall and winter; dainty white flowers

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    OUT OF STOCK

    Rounded leaflets green turning red in fall and winter; dainty white flowers in mid-summer.  Perfect for rock gardens, front of border, fairy gardens, roof gardens, troughs and groundcover or any place with drought.

    Size: 4” x 12” spreading
    Care: sun in well-drained soil - thrives on neglect. Deer resistant & drought tolerant.
    Native: Europe, west & north Asia

    Sedum means “plant that sits.”  “Live forever” is an ancient Greek name for sedums. The Roman Pliny claimed that sedum’s juice treated wounds.  In the 1500’s English herbalist Gerard called sedums “very full of life,” referring to succulent’s quality of being very easy to grow.  This species collected before 1671. It “grows naturally upon old walls in many parts of England.” Gardeners Dictionary, 1768.  In 1867 described as “growing, ever so luxuriantly upon roofs and walls (as well as) the rocks at Great Malvern…” Botany of Worcestershire. Landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing recommended this for edging, 1868.