As it's a small flower, growing only about 6 inches tall, it's best planted in masses to maximize visual impact. Rock soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides) is a delightful creeper native to the mountains of Europe. Soapwort is a sun lover and adapts well to low water conditions. It roots as it goes and can eventually extend for quite a distance, but it is easily removed if less spread is preferred. I’ve seen it growing in a pond in North Vancouver and it grew in full sun in a dry spot at VanDusen Botanical Garden. It grows well in average garden soil but can tolerate poor soil and drought. Instead, keep the plant contained in a rock garden or even a pot. Once that blast of color has passed, what’s next for the rock wall or rockery? Apr 13, 2012 - I spent a week in Germany in early May visiting family and appreciating the spring blooms. Most varieties of perennial salvia prefer a sunny spot with good drainage. Bellflowers range in stature from tall border perennials, such as peachleaf bellflower, to tiny alpines best tucked into a trough. Another example of the cascading effect of grasses–this time Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia) drifting down over a low river rock retaining wall at the edge of a driveway. Commonly called Basket of Gold, perennial alyssum makes a wonderful wall or rock garden plant. The more sun the plant gets, the more golden its foliage turns. Creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is an amazingly adaptable plant. Woody Mediterranean herbs are a good choice, like lavender and rosemary. Stachys byzantina (formerly S. lanata or S. olympica) spreads gradually and produces fuzzy white stems and large, fuzzy leaves as well. Fragrant white flowers appear in late spring. It typically includes softscape plants suitable to those conditions. Blooms in … Plants with a trailing habit, such as ivy leaved toadflax, are designed for cascading down rock faces or scree slopes and can thrive in a wall. From the editors of BCLiving, a seasonal subscription box of beauty products & decor treasures. The plant is often used as a flower border. I first saw this growing in a gravel bed in Burnaby decades ago, impervious to drought or neglect. Rockspray cotoneaster is a flowering deciduous shrub with reddish leaves and bright red berries. Alpine plants, which often dislike wet conditions and are adapted to growing in poor soils, are another option as are many wild flowers, such as Welsh poppy, which thrive in poorer soils. Because it blooms in its first season when planted from seed, the plant is often grown as an annual outside of its hardiness zones. The following plants are hardy to the zone number indicated: Arabis caucasica ‘Variegata’ (variegated wall rock cress) – zone 4 • Aubrieta cultivars (aubrietia) – zone 5 • Aurinia saxatilis (alyssum) – zone 4 • Iberis sempervirens (candytuft) – zone 5 • Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmatian bellflower) – zone 4 • Euphorbia myrsinites (myrtle spurge) – zone 5 • Lysimachia nummularia (creeping jenny) – zone 4 • Phlox subulata (creeping phlox, moss phlox) – zone 3 • Saponaria ocymoides (rock soapwort) – zone 4 • Saxifraga ‘Aureopunctata’ (gold-spotted London pride) – zone 5 • Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ears) – zone 4 • Thymus pseudolanuginosus (sometimes sold as T. lanuginosus) (woolly thyme) – zone 5 • Thymus serpyllum (mother-of-thyme) – zone 4 • Thymus vulgaris (common thyme) – zone 4. The plant grows well in rock gardens, as well as in stone walls or between garden stepping stones. Some vines, like ivy, are true climbers that use aerial roots to hold on to surfaces. Moonbeam coreopsis is a perennial flower from the aster family. With its purple-tinged foliage, wood spurge can make a colorful impact in a rock garden. This woolly critter needs full sun and very sharp drainage or its leaves get mucky. Some small rock garden plants are creepers, including dragon's blood stonecrop. The plant has excellent drought tolerance, and it flowers best in full sun. Spiked speedwell is a compact perennial flower that's good for rock gardens, foundation plantings, flower beds, borders, and more. The plant is tolerant of poor soil but needs sharp drainage. It prefers a well-draining sandy or humusy soil and can handle light shade. A young plant needs regular watering, but once mature it is moderately drought-tolerant. Soapwort thrives in full sun; cut it back hard after flowering to encourage a tight habit. Creeping phlox or other trailing plants add an interesting "waterfall" effect to your wall. Hens and Chicks is a mat-forming succulent that produces rosette clusters. Candytuft, with its showy flowers that bloom in mid-spring, is commonly used in rock gardens or as edging. To keep Creeping phlox’s foliage attractive, never trim… The plant is drought-tolerant, though it prefers some moisture in the soil. Tuck cascading plants into crevices and let them spill over the top of retaining walls. It's adaptable to many growing conditions, including sandy, rocky, and clay soils. Trailing plants, cascading plants, or spiller plants. Blue fescue is an ornamental grass grown for its blue-tinted foliage and yellowish-green flowers. Still, this plant is tolerant of drought and can even handle being grown in a little shade. Yellow Alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) Yellow alyssum is a low-growing, spreading plant that puts out … Creeping phlox brings soft pastel colors to the spring garden. It produces pink flowers (a white selection is also available) in early summer, covering a low mat of hairy, bright-green leaves. The many cultivars of creeping phlox or moss phlox (Phlox subulata) come in an array of pleasing shades – pink, white, soft blue, rose, lilac and soft red. 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. SOME OF THE BEST TRAILING PLANTS ROCK SOAPWORT (Saponaria ocymoides) Creates a low mat covered in either pink or white blooms in early summer. It's a hardy plant that can tolerate poor soil conditions. The plant grows to a height and spread of about a foot. They bloom March through April in full sun and average soil. But it does not like soggy soil. Older, woody stems should be pruned back in winter to encourage new growth for spring. It readily grows in nutrient-poor soil as long as it has good drainage. Its toothed, heart-shaped leaves are evergreen. Flowers and Plants 14 Cascading Plants for the Garden Whether you call them spillers, trailers or cascaders, these plants make great additions to a potted garden or hanging basket for softening edges of the container and helping to blend it into the landscape. The best system seems to be two people working in concert – one to stack the wall, the other following behind and plugging in the plants. 1. Butterflies tend to like its tiny pinkish-red flowers. – in wholesale, retail and at VanDusen Botanical Garden for a decade – Carolyn Jones brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to GardenWise and www.gardenwiseonline.ca as staff horticulturist. Trimming stems after blooming can encourage a second bloom season! As a bonus, salvia's colorful flowers tend to attract many pollinators. Rock Garden Design: 10 Common Questions Answered, 14 Best Fall-Blooming Flowers for Your Perennial Garden, 15 Best Zone 7 Plants to Put In Your Garden, 10 Best Flowering Plants That Deer Will Not Eat, 10 Best Deer-Resistant Shrubs for Landscaping, 30 Easy-to-Grow Perennials for Beginning Gardeners, 12 Fall Plants for Container Gardens and Hanging Baskets, Best Perennials That Offer Long Bloom Periods. Columbine is a perennial wildflower with many cultivars. 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. Gardeners east of the Coast Mountains should not grow this evergreen perennial as it has been known to invade wild lands; west of the mountains, where the weather is wetter, it doesn’t misbehave. Its flowers, which attract hummingbirds, are a fascinating shape said to resemble a jester's cap. They can tolerate many soil types, including the conditions of a rock garden. The reticulated iris is another early bloomer in the spring. It thrives in poor soil and is considered a drought-tolerant plant. All Rights Reserved. Among those suited to trailing over walls or spilling onto paths is Dalmatian bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana), which has open, bell-shaped flowers of deep purple that appear from mid- to late summer. For me, one of the joys of working in a garden centre was sharing beginning gardeners’ delight at discovering “new” plants—even the most common. Black-eyed Susan is a daisy-like perennial flower. The Axcent™ series of Aubrieta comes in rich, saturated purples and pinks that do an excellent job of softening hardscaping and trailing over walls. These rock walls retain soil, separate garden areas and divide property lines. The plant can be an aggressive spreader, so it's best in a contained area. Terraces made of stone walls perfectly display trailing plants. 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. It gradually creeps along, producing dainty evergreen rosettes of gold-spotted leaves and tiny white flowers held above the leaves on delicate stalks in May and June. BCLiving keeps you in the know on everything West Coast, highlighting local trends, eats, entertainment and travel ideas. 12 Plants for a Rock Garden - BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Russian sage has a delicate appearance, but it still offers some height at around 3 to 5 feet. I love to see flowering plants trailing over dry stone walls. An entirely different look is provided by myrtle spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites). Rugosa rose is a sprawling, thorny, flowering shrub. The flowers are held open flat above a long, narrow calyx – a pleasing arrangement known as “salverform”: platter shaped. Trailing perennial flowers are striking planted along flowerbeds and borders, nestled within rock gardens and billowing over a garden wall or container. Cold hardy to zone 3 David Beaulieu is a garden writer with nearly 20 years experience writing about landscaping and over 10 years experience working in nurseries. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) 9 /14 Another super easy houseplant, pothos is a great trailing plant for your shower. All three are flowering at the moment. The coneflower is a daisy-like perennial that is hardy and long-blooming. Once established, it even can handle some drought. This eastern North American native thrives in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun on the coast, but in protection from hot afternoon sun in warmer parts of the province. Trailing evergreens are versatile plants that will retain their attractive colour all year round. It grows best in full sun but can tolerate a little shade. Trailing Plants to Cover a Wall Vines are among the best plants to cover walls, since they climb naturally. Planted at the edge of a path, thymes tickle your toes as you go on your way, releasing a Mediterranean aroma. of a plant, don’t worry about the name – give it a try. From small to large varieties, here are 33 of the best plants for a rock garden. There are a variety of plants suitable for this situation but the three plants I have trailing over my dry stone wall are Arabis, Aubrieta and Saponaria. In warmer regions this plant can be short-lived, so replant every year or two. Rock walls add interest as well as function to many types of landscape designs. It likes well-draining, sandy soil, and it can even somewhat tolerate clay. Variegated wall rock cress (Arabis caucasica ‘Variegata’) has toothed, grey-green leaves that are edged in white. Arabis caucasica is a perennial which grows to 9 inches high and spreads to about 24 inches. But the plant doesn't care for high heat and humidity, so it might need some afternoon shade in warmer climates. The many hybrids and cultivars that fall under the general umbrella of creeping thyme (Thymus) add “foot interest,” as my friend and garden designer Claire Bennett calls it. The Shasta daisy is a low-maintenance perennial flower. Aurinia saxatilis (or Alyssum saxatile) provides a thick, glorious mat of bright-yellow flowers. Although its petals form a pretty pattern, the flowers tend to have a rather unpleasant aroma. Deer Grass is very drought tolerant and easy care. Trailing plants make effective ground covers on a difficult-to-plant area or a steep slope, or can be planted where the green foliage can cascade freely over a rock wall. Although it rained the entire time I was there, I was able to get a few photos to showcase a few gardens. Plant a pot of pothos in a medium-light or bright corner. As early as March in mild years, purple aubrietia (Aubrieta), yellow alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) and white candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) burst forth with other spring flowers, announcing another gardening season. Trailing, weeping or vining plants can be utilized to cover a rock retaining wall with lush foliage and bright flowers. Persicaria affinis ‘Superba’ Many of the plants in this selection are relatively early flowering, but this … There are a number of cultivars of this species, each with its own notable character. It blooms for most of the summer, adding appeal to borders, gardens, and containers. Mugo pine is a spreading evergreen shrub that grows to around 15 to 20 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide. Copyright © Canada Wide Media Limited. Add stones to a slope for erosion control, creating planting pockets as you go. The plant doesn't need much water and has excellent drought tolerance. 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