Its flowers, which attract hummingbirds, are a fascinating shape said to resemble a jester's cap. If your reason for not wanting to include plants in your landscape design is … Snow-in-summer gets its name from its pristine white flowers that bloom in early summer and blanket the ground like a fresh snowfall. When happy, Lamium can spread quickly, but don’t worry because the plants are easy to control with an occasional haircut. The plant is drought-tolerant, though it prefers some moisture in the soil. Lesser periwinkle is considered invasive parts of the southeast. This plant can tolerate some drought, as well as shallow, rocky soil. We sell a variety of plants including flowers, trees, shrubs, hedges and more! Planting Your Rock Garden Select your plants based on the characteristics of your site. After blooming, remove the spent flowers and enjoy the plants’ rich green leaves right through the winter. Although considered a specialised and 'difficult' area of gardening, there is a huge range of plants available for including in a rock garden, including many well within the capabilities of ordinary gardeners. For creating the perfect rock garden for sloped yards, try these tips and tricks. And the main reason for this is because they look absolutely. Valued for its brilliantly colored blooms against striking silver foliage, colors range from rose pink to white to red in late spring to summer. It's a hardy plant that can tolerate poor soil conditions. It produces small, star-shaped yellow blooms in early to mid-summer. It can handle some shade, especially in the afternoon, but too much shade can cause the plant to lose its shape. Transform a sloping front yard into a street-side showstopper by bringing in locally sourced boulders and a variety of rock garden plants. Because most rock garden plants thrive in dry soil, it can be challenging to grow them in wetter climates such as the Pacific Northwest. Transforming an unattractive incline or pile in your yard into a vivid rock garden is easy when you picked the right plants. Black-eyed Susan is a daisy-like perennial flower. It’s ideal for planting in patio containers or at the front of the border. The clump-forming grass can reach around 4 to 7 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, providing height and texture to a garden. If you are looking for a plant that will cover the rocks in your garden, the rock cress is a … Butterflies tend to like its tiny pinkish-red flowers. Rock garden plants tend to be smaller to complement the scale of the rocks. A flowering perennial, yarrow is popular as an edging plant or in a rock garden. Ice plant is more cold hardy in drier, western landscapes. With its purple-tinged foliage, wood spurge can make a colorful impact in a rock garden. It grows well in direct sun and prefers medium levels of water. It typically includes softscape plants suitable to those conditions. Colors range from white, pink or red. 12 Plants for a Rock Garden - BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Plus, its tolerance for drought and poor soil makes it a good rock garden plant. It can tolerate heat and drought and is deer-resistant. Rock garden can be interpreted as a small garden that have rocks, both big and small, as the main attraction. Lesser periwinkle prefers partial shade and slightly moist soil so it’s one of the best options for rock or wall gardens located under tall trees. Use perennials, ornamental grasses and small shrubs to add vertical height. Ice plant has fleshy gray-green foliage that’s almost hidden by a barrage of jewel-tone, daisylike blooms in purplish-pink, yellow, white, orange, or red. Candytuft, with its showy flowers that bloom in mid-spring, is commonly used in rock gardens or as edging. Graduated spaces of the landscape pose questions when considering garden beds. Once your rock garden is in place, the care is fairly easy. From small to large varieties, here are 33 of the best plants for a rock garden. When planting Azalea make sure your soil has the proper PH level (preferably a pH of 5.5 or less). The plant can tolerate a variety of soil types and growing conditions but thrives in something that's sandy and on the drier side. This dense, clumping grass grows just 12 inches tall and has rich blue foliage highlighted with buff-color flower stalks in the late summer. Some small rock garden plants are creepers, including dragon's blood stonecrop. This handsome perennial develops tiny green leaves that form a solid mat that can even take light foot traffic. An ideal rock garden plant, creeping phlox thrives in poor, dry soil that drains quickly after a rain. Grasses add texture and interest throughout the year and keep the color show going while other plants come in and out of bloom. If you live in a frost-free region, be sure to include Euphorbia in your rock garden. Small Rock Gardens Ideas | Landscaping Rock Ideas source . 24. So they won’t obscure the beautifully arranged stones. Raised beds are another pretty alternative as they provide excellent drainage and the perfect conditions to grow a rich selection of Alpine plants and dwarf hardy bulbs such as crocus, narcissus, tulip, chionodoxa, allium, eranthis or galanthus. This pretty creeper grows 4-6 inches tall and produces masses of cheerful pink or white flowers in the spring. The plant is tolerant of heat and drought, though it will die if it does not have good drainage. It is a low-growing perennial. Smaller rocks can make a great bed for some plants and may be used rather than mulch or woodchips. 3 pots of wood spurge ( Euphorbia amygdaloides Purpurea) for their yellow blooms and red stems; taller plants that give the composition some depth. You could plant a conventional rock garden or merely load a little room with these small yet vivid plants. Aubrieta, Aubrieta deltoidea, makes a colorful splash in early spring. This geranium prefers full sun and good drainage. Columbine is a perennial wildflower with many cultivars. Your email address will not be published. Moreover, it's important that the bulbs rest in fairly dry soil during their summer dormancy, making the plant ideal for a well-draining rock garden. The beauty of a well-planned rock garden is the rocks and plants work together to elevate each other's impact. It grows to about 3 feet tall with a spread of roughly 4 feet. Remove the flowers as they fade to encourage new blooms. As a bonus, when the flowers mature, they fade to light pink which gives the plant the second show of color. Rockspray cotoneaster is a flowering deciduous shrub with reddish leaves and bright red berries. Blue fescue thrives in dry conditions and mixes well with other rock garden plants. Just when you thought winter was never going to end, the jewel-like flowers of creeping phlox burst into bloom in early spring. You may also choose to have rocks with no greenery at all. With its aromatic foliage and pretty blooms, lavender is popular and versatile in the garden. Woolly thyme grows 3 inches tall and in midsummer develops masses of tiny pink, nectar-rich flowers that butterflies will flock to. Sitting in a well organized rock garden without plants, or with manicured sand, is a very zen and visually intriguing idea. Prized for both its colorful foliage and flowers, Lamium makes a superb rock garden plant especially in shady locations. It is drought tolerant, and one of the most useful herbs for the kitchen. It will self-seed freely and naturalize itself. As a member of the mint family, Russian sage spreads by runners. David Beaulieu is a garden writer with nearly 20 years experience writing about landscaping and over 10 years experience working in nurseries. Read more: 10+ Best Rock Garden Plants for Sale. Many include a few small plants in between rocks but others might consist of various types of stones strategically placed. Rugosa rose is a sprawling, thorny, flowering shrub. Once established, it even can handle some drought. The good news about a rock garden is that they can easily work in any climate and size yard, making it a very versatile choice for homeowners. The reticulated iris is another early bloomer in the spring. The plants also have dark, needlelike, evergreen foliage that remains attractive all year long. When frost threatens, just bring it indoors. Creeping thyme is aromatic like the edible herb, but it's mainly grown as a ground cover or to fill in space between stepping stones. Shear back plants after flowering to encourage denser growth. The plant tolerates a little shade in hot conditions, but wet soil can kill it. All you have to do loosen the soil every once in a while and remove any weeds that grow. Simply Susan: Glimpses of the New Garden source . Blue fescue thrives in dry conditions and mixes well with other rock garden plants. Whether the rocky landscape is natural or man-made, rock gardens are a wonderful blend of eclectic and enchanting colors and textures, due in no small part to a gardener's choice of plants. The plants should be able to tolerate the conditions of the area, wet or dry, hot or cool. So they won’t obscure the beautifully arranged stones. Hens-and-chicks are drought tolerant and are small enough to be tucked into even the tiniest sunny nook or cranny. Your email address will not be published. Mugo pine is a spreading evergreen shrub that grows to around 15 to 20 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide. Avoid planting ajuga next to lawns where it can spread. Russian sage has a delicate appearance, but it still offers some height at around 3 to 5 feet. They bloom from late spring into early summer with solitary blue flowers. Also known as armeria maritime, sea thrift is an evergreen perennial that produces grassy mounds, with rounded flowerheads on stems. In this episode of Growing Wisdom Dave visits a beautiful low lying garden with many interesting plants including Tsuga canadensis 'Cole's Prostrate' & more! 100 Name of Flowers with Pictures and Meanings, Copyright at 2017. As a bonus, salvia's colorful flowers tend to attract many pollinators. It grows best in full sun but can tolerate a little shade. It can be used as the groundcover, as edging plant or planted in rocks. While having some small plants around the garden. 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