Plants That Love A Rock Garden
Rock gardens are wonderful for a few reasons. First of all, they allow the opportunity for a different kind of visually interesting plantscape. Unlike a cottage garden, butterfly garden or cutting garden, a rock garden has elements that show off the terrain itself. Rocks, sculpture and even some unusual objects are perfectly comfortable here. Secondly, the plants best suited to rock gardens very often grow rapidly, filling in any available space before you know it. Great for the impatient gardener! The third reason for considering a rock garden pertains to where you can put one. Many rock garden plants don’t mind a rocky slope, a hot, dry curbside spot or a corner you would like to mostly ignore but enjoy looking at. Unfriendly planting areas often welcome plants like sedum, moss phlox and euonymus. Below is a list to get started, but bear in mind that there are so many varieties of sedum, you could populate the entire rock garden with it and still have an awesome array of colors and textures!
Ajuga reptans ( carpet bugle)
Alyssum saxatile
Arabis alpina (alpine rockcress)
Antennaria dioica (pussy’s toes)
Arabis procurrens
Arenaria montana (sandwort)
Armeria maritime (thrift)
Artemisia”Silver Mound”
Aster alpinus (alpine aster)
Aubrieta (purple rock cress)
Aurina saxatilis Compactum (basket of gold)
Campanula carpatica (carpathian harebell)
Campanula elatines (adriatic bellflower)
Campanula poscharskyana (serbian bellflower)
Campanula rotundifolia (bluebell)
Cerastium (snow in summer)
Delosperma ( ice plant)
Dianthus (pinks)
Geranium spp. (cranesbill)
Gysophila repens – (creeping baby’s breath)
Helianthemum – (rock rose)
Iberis supervivens – (candytuft)
Oenothera speciosa (white evening primrose)
Penstemon caespitosus (creeping penstemon)
Penstemon pinifolius (pineleaf penstemon)
Phlox subulata (moss pink or creeping phlox)
Sedum (stonecrop)
Sempervivum (hens & chicks)
Thyme
Veronica pectinata (woolly veronica)