Plants for the Rock Garden - Displayed by Common Name in Ascending Order

A beautiful plant for the garden bed or patio pots. Also makes an excellent gift. Grow as an annual or a perennial, where plants will be covered with blooms throughout the season. Extra-thick flower petals extend the time blooms are showy in the garden.

Interesting balloon-like buds burst open into beautiful bell-shaped flowers. Exceptional branching and thick flower petals make for long-lasting light pink blooms.

This selection forms a compact mound of green foliage, bearing inflated buds that open into star-shaped semi-double white flowers. The small habit of this variety makes it a good choice for rock gardens and mixed containers.

With a dreamy palette of flowers, Elise makes an indelible impression! Glorious shades of soft and vivid pinks, rose, salmon, white, yellow, orange, soft purple and lovely bicolor patterns — an impressionist masterpiece. Prize-winning 4-6" variety flowers its first season without a cold period, working its magic in containers, beds and rockeries.

Compact plants have very colorful, medium-size leaves, making this an excellent choice for shade plantings. Separate colors – singly or in combination with impatiens or other shade-loving varieties – make striking beds,

Ivy shaped foliage with dainty, heart-shaped flowers in mixed colors in shades of pink, rose, and cream. These are the old-fashioned style of Coral Bells, grown for their bright display of flowers in early summer.

An excellent groundcover plant with bright pink flowers in early summer which are more vivid than other pink varieties. A prolific flowerer and highly attractive to bees and other pollinators. The green, fragrant foliage turns to red in the fall.

This low-growing selection forms a trailing mat of grey-green leaves. The soft-pink flowers have a deep purple eye and veins, appearing on and off from early summer. Terrific in the rock garden, alpine trough, wall or for edging a border or pathway. Shear plants by half in midsummer if flowering stops, to encourage bushy growth and repeat blooming in autumn. Easily divided in spring. Received a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (1993/2006).

It’s a miracle that Leontopodium Blossom of Snow exists! This beautiful plant, also called Edelweiss, was almost extinct. The Sound of Music is partly to blame. This movie caused a real Edelweiss-craze. Fans went en masse to the mountains to pick Edelweiss. Now Edelweiss is a protected species. Fortunately we can enjoy Blossom of Snow to the fullest. This new Edelweiss variety blooms like no other. Not once, but twice a year: in summer and again in autumn. Blossom of Snow has characteristic, large star-shaped flowers. Its flowers are pure white with a yellow center, which gives a refreshing look combined with its silvery foliage. Blossom of Snow grows to 16" high and 24" wide. This perennial is an excellent choice for rock gardens, mixed planting, perennial borders and as solitary in a container. And did you know Edelweiss is also suitable as cut flower? That is because of its exceptionally long flower stems. Leontopodium Blossom of Snow is very hardy. Put the plant in full sun in well drained, sandy soil. Prune Blossom of Snow after it has finished flowering. Other than that, this gorgeous Edelweiss hardly requires maintenance.

Silvery, velvety foliage with white, star-shaped flowers. Edelweiss is a favorite wildflower of the Swiss Alps, best suited to growing in a well-drained rock garden, scree or alpine trough. Plants form a low clump of silvery grey foliage, bearing odd clusters of woolly white flowers in early summer. These can be cut, or even dried. Short-lived in gardens, these will sometimes self seed when happy. Best in regions with cool summers. Drought-tolerant once established.

Abundant vibrant, tiny blue flowers cover compact, bushy plants. Attracts butterflies.

Liatris spicata, also known as Blazing Star, is an unforgettable purple perennial. Known for its grass-like foliage and tall, spiky blooms that attract butterflies, birds and bees, Liatris makes a great cut flower and is deer resistant. Plant with Bee Balm and Black Eyed Susan’s for a vibrant, colorful garden.

This new sport of ‘Jack Frost’ has more silver barring with with the bars connecting to form a silver collar around the perimeter of the leaf. In addition, there is a very light dusting of silver over the entire leaf surface.

Mounding succulent perennial makes an excellent groundcover when planted in mass groupings. Foliage is an attractive, bright yellow-green with tips edged in purple. Small flower spikes are frosty white. Thrives in rocky, well-drained soil. Evergreen.

Jade Rose’s foliage is bright, medium green as it emerges, and then starts developing deep rose edges which eventually spread to the whole inside of leaf; the outside remains green.

‘Spring Beauty’ has medium-sized rosettes of grey-green, flushed with plum in the colder months. Short spikes of pastel flowers appear in summer. Easily increased by just removing the small baby rosettes and replanting in a new location at almost any time. After flowering, the mother rosette dies to leave room for the chicks: remove this by tugging gently at the base of the bloom stem.

This selection is a heavy producer and features bright apple green rosettes with dark purple tips.

‘Royal Raspberry’ has rosy purple flowers with burgundy calyxes. New foliage emerges with a burgundy cast in spring. Best performance comes in full sun with well drained soils.

For glamorous color where it's hot, sunny, and dry, we suggest this exceptional Denver Botanic Garden introduction. Nickel-sized blossoms are apricot to bright orange with a ring of hot pink to magenta color surrounding the white eye. They are produced prolifically, blanketing the foliage from late spring through early summer and then often reblooming sporadically throughout the summer months. A vigorous, evergreen carpet.

FIRE SPINNER® is a weed suppressing groundcover that typically spreads 18-24” wide in two years. Its succulent, apple green foliage is evergreen and takes on bronze tones in winter.

Like all Delospermas, this one is also highly heat and drought tolerant, making it a good choice for waterwise landscapes. It thrives in rock gardens, on slopes, in containers, and in the landscape.

This orange sport of ‘Fire Spinner’ has a softness to it and slight pink bases to the petals. These low growing and spreading plants have fingered succulent foliage nearly covered with flowers in April - May into June.

An exciting new variety that is covered in blooms from early summer until frost! Daisy-like flowers are pinkish-red with creamy white centers. This prostrate groundcover is perfect for rock gardens or front of the garden.

Wheels of Wonder Fire Wonder has stunning, bright orange-red flowers. It’s a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Wheels of Wonder Hot Pink Wonder has pink flowers with a yellow center. It’s a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Wheels of Wonder Hot Red has red flowers with a yellow center. It’s a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Wheels of Wonder Violet Wonder has dazzling violet flowers with white centers. It’s a magnet for bees and butterflies.

A creeping, moss-like, evergreen groundcover that can be used as a replacement for lawn in cool-summer regions. Irish Moss is especially beautiful growing between pavers and flagstones on a path or wall.

Update your lavender collection with this top notch variegated form. Soft grey-green leaves are accented by wide, creamy yellow margins which are showy even from a distance as the plant glows in the summer sun.

Strongly fragrant, soft lavender blue flowers are presented on very proportional wands beginning in early summer in the south, midsummer in the north.

This plant forms a neatly compact, dense mound of attractive foliage, making it perfect for use in containers, as edging, and in rock gardens.

Platinum Blonde™ is a multiple award winner including a nomination for Plant of the Year at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013.

This selection has large, upfacing rose-red flowers with white centers, up to six flowers per stem. Really a dramatic addition to a hot color theme.

This selection has large, rich pink upfacing flowers. Really a dramatic addition to a hot color theme. 5-7 buds per stem.

Sparkling white blossoms with high bud count. Produces 4-6 flowers per stem

‘Oktoberfest’ is the gold standard in Miscanthus. The wide, deep green leaves with a white midrib form a narrowly upright tower about 4 ½’ tall before blooming.

In late summer or early fall, the foliage develops deep purple and red highlights which complement the showy flowers that emerge a rich shade of shimmering burgundy and copper, then mature into fluffy, creamy tan seed heads.

Compared to older Miscanthus like ‘Gracillimus’, this selection blooms much earlier (making it better for northern climates where the growing season is shorter) and has much improved fall color. It also develops its beautiful fall color earlier in the season.

Creeping Mazus is a beautiful groundcover for any sunny to partly shaded area with reasonably moist soil. Plants form a low, creeping mat of green leaves, studded with small white flowers over a long season. Perfect for planting between flagstones or as an evergreen lawn substitute.

A Mexican succulent that forms large, loose rosettes of fleshy, spoon-shaped leaves in dark gray-green with cabernet-red stripes and margins. Slender flower stalks carry nodding, bell-shaped flowers in orange-yellow.

Happy Hour Banana is high impact color with its vivid bright yellow, semi-double blooms. The blooms have red in the eye.

Happy Hour Deep Red is high impact color with its vivid deep red, semi-double blooms.

Happy Hour Fuchsia is high impact color with its vivid fuchsia, semi-double blooms.

Fuller habit and large, semi-double blooms in vivid colors. Great for hot, dry, full-sun conditions, drought-tolerant Happy Hour is sure to please with its excellent garden performance.

Happy Hour Pink Passion is high impact color with its vivid pink, semi-double blooms.

Fuller habit and large, semi-double blooms in vivid colors. Great for hot, dry, full-sun conditions, drought-tolerant Happy Hour is sure to please with its excellent garden performance.

A warm season grass of exceptionally fine texture. Narrow green foliage creates a rounded, arching habit. In early fall sprays of rosy pink flowers spread over the plant. UNDAUNTED® is notable against previous cultivars for being more cold hardy and having a deeper shade of flower color.

‘Millenium’ forms a compact, upright clump of glossy green, thick and strappy leaves which emit a slight smell of onion when crushed. In late July and August here in Michigan, a profusion of large 2”, bright rosy purple, tightly rounded clusters of flowers appear on strong stems just above the attractive foliage. Butterflies and honeybees adore the flowers’ sweet nectar but deer and rabbits steer clear of this perennial beauty. This plant has not been known to reseed in the landscape and is very easy to grow.

This eye-catching, non-culinary oregano features large purple-green bracts, rose flowers and clear, light green foliage. Ideal as a decorative patio plant, with a delicious fragrance to attract pollinators in hanging baskets, borders and rock gardens.

Pendulous bunches of showy, pink bracts and weeping branches of oval to round leaves oppositely arranged create quite a display all season long. A delicate, dramatic plant to drape over walls or mix into rockeries, containers and low borders.

Exciting and versatile, 4 Luck Coco Mint is an excellent component plant for containers with a great amount of diversity in colors. It grows low and spreads, then with maturity cascades over the edge of containers and baskets. It performs as an excellent groundcover because the stems will develop from the plant base under the soil, filling a small area in a single growing season. With that stated, trifolium is not categorized as an invasive plant.

Black Four-Leaf Clover. A vigorous perennial with charming leaves and small white flowers that bloom in summer.

Canary yellow, mildly fragrant, 3 inch wide flowers are produced in great numbers over dark green, lanceolate leaves from early thru midsummer. Following the substantial blooms, seed pods are produced which are beautiful in dried arrangements.

Interesting plant with furry buds opening from April-May into cup-shaped flowers. Use for rock gardens, borders.

An outstanding performer! Deep pink, fragrant flowers bloom so profusely they nearly hide the foliage. Remarkably heat and drough tolerant.

Lavender-purple flowers witha dark purple eye in mid- to late-spring.

'Paint the Town Fancy' produces 1", single, rosy fuchsia flowers with a red eye and serrated petals. Flowers completely cover the plant when it's in peak. Its glaucous blue foliage set it apart from other Dianthus of its type.

‘Paint the Town Fuchsia’ is one of the earliest Dianthus to bloom, producing ¾-1” wide, single fuchsia flowers with lavender centers and incredibly serrated petals. Flowers completely cover the plant when it’s in peak. Its glaucous blue foliage set it apart from other Dianthus of its type.

Bright red, single flowers with fringed petal edges cover compact, dwarf plants.

The intricate leaves of ‘Hiippo Rose’ are deep green with rose blotches and plants are slow to bolt leaving more time for the brightly hued foliage to sparkle.

Fast growing plant with dark round leaves splashed with either white, rose, or red. Pinch growing tips to shape.

Quick growing plant has leaves splashed with rose pink. Pinch growing tips to shape.

Highly praised for its large flower size and clear, vibrant colors. Flowers freely in a wide range of colors including yellow, maroon, lavender, white, pink, and blue-violet. Most have large eyes of contrasting colors. The ‘Pacific Hybrids’ put on a fantastic color show in early spring.

Flowering succulent features large, yellow blooms with orange centers.

Flowering succulent features large, yellow blooms with white stripes.

Reintroduced variety with magenta flowers has been upgraded for early flowering, better branching, more flower power and center flowering, and bigger blooms.

Reintroduced variety with two-tone pink and soft yellow flowers has been upgraded for early flowering, better branching, more flower power and center flowering, and bigger blooms.

Explosive double flowers with orange petals that do not close at night. Great spiller for container in full sun with heat tolerance being a bonus. Perfectly sized for rock gardens and border fronts. Wonderful for combination plantings.

Explosive double flowers with scarlet red petals that do not close at night. Great spiller for container in full sun with heat tolerance being a bonus. Perfectly sized for rock gardens and border fronts. Wonderful for combination plantings.

Flowering succulent features large, yellow blooms with orange centers.

Flowering succulent features large, yellow blooms with orange centers.

Flowering succulent features large, yellow blooms with orange centers.

 

Mojave® Mango is a novel variety that shines with large, bright mango blossoms with a narrow scarlet ring around the center that creates a bullseye for pollinating bees and butterflies. Like others in the series, its blossoms are self-cleaning and the plant delivers a stellar garden performance all season.

Mojave® Tangerine shines with large, saturated orange blossoms that don’t fade in the heat and attract pollinating bees and butterflies. Like others in the series, they are self-cleaning so they won’t need to be deadheaded to keep on blooming all season.

 

 

 

The sky's the limit on this tropical looking plant! Coral orange flowers open creamy white on perfectly formed spikes. The beautiful bicolor flowers are produced above a large clump of foliage and blooms for many weeks beginning in early to midsummer.

Uniform, compact, globe-shaped habit, with bright pink flowers.

Bright coral - orange blooms cover this small mounding shrub from mid-spring to mid-fall. Coral Drift® has the most vibrant flowers that catch your eye from anywhere. Mix and match with similar or contrasting colors to really wow. Fully winter hardy and disease resistant.

Stunning bouquets of pink and white bicolor roses on a fuss-free shrub that will endure the trials of a long, hot summer with an unwavering blooming zeal. An outstanding, disease-resistant, own-root, self-cleaning rose that thrives coast to coast in heat and humidity as well as dry, hot summers. A dynamic hedge, barrier, or accent plant. Deciduous.

Upright bouquets of beautiful, fully double, red roses on fuss-free shrubs that will endure the trials of a long, hot summer with an unwavering blooming zeal. This own-root rose has outstanding disease resistance, is self-cleaning, and has proven to thrive coast to coast in heat and humidity as well as dry, hot summers. A dynamic hedge, barrier, or accent plant. Deciduous.

Upright bouquets of beautiful, fully double, white roses on fuss-free shrubs that will endure the trials of a long, hot summer with an unwavering blooming zeal. This own-root rose has outstanding disease resistance, is self-cleaning, and has proven to thrive coast to coast in heat and humidity as well as dry, hot summers. A dynamic hedge, barrier, or accent plant. Deciduous.

An eye-catcher of a trailing variety with pudgy, bean-shaped leaves that hang on stems up to 2’ long. The whole plant can flush a striking shade of magenta when moderately stressed by direct sun, drought, or cool temperatures. It grows fine, white tufts of fuzz in the crevices between stems and leaves. It produces small, yellow, daisy-like blooms and re-roots easily from stem cuttings.

Small, succulent leaves emerge coral and mature to green, becoming reddish-bronze in winter. Small, white star-shaped flowers appear above the foliage. A vigorous groundcover or rock garden subject. Evergreen.

Fleshy leaves have bright variegation. Clusters of rosy-pink flowers.

Sedum adolphi 'Firestorm' is a beautiful low-growing succulent with trailing stems and greenish-yellow leaves with red margins in bright light or cool temperatures. It can grow up to 8" tall. The white star-shaped flowers add winsome contrast to the leaf color and those fiery margins.

An outstanding hybrid selection of a native North American wildflower. This forms a low rosette of rounded leaves, bearing upright stems of bright magenta-pink flowers with a yellow center. Flowers are easily twice the size of other selections, with flared-back petals that give each blossom a star-like or rocket ship appearance.

A silver-grey carpet of pointed leaves covered liberally in early summer with masses of crisp white silky flowers with an almost luminous quality. Foliage is a useful, year-round contrast to stronger colors.

Great contrast between the foliage and flowers with colors reminiscent of a traditional banana split: dark-gray-purple foliage like the chocolate sauce and creamy yellow flowers like the banana. Compact habit and strong stems that don't flop, great performer in the rock garden, perennial border, for mass planting or container.

A rare trailing hybrid succulent that is a cross of String of Pearls and Candle Plant. The leaves lining its string-like stems really look like dolphins leaping off the plant, making it a true novelty in the natural world. If properly cared for, it can send up bloom stalks with pompom-like clusters of tiny white flowers that smell of cinnamon.

String of Pearls, named after British botanist Gordon Rowley, is an unusual succulent with nearly spherical leaves from South Africa. Massively long “stringsof pearls”.

Single flowers in a wide color range over compact plants.

A highly desirable and popular groundcover, forming a dense low mat with spikes of lilac-white flowers throughout summer, beautiful fragrant variegated foliage that is larger and more broadleaf; needs a dry and sunny location, can take light foot traffic.

Variegated Broadleaf Thyme is smothered in stunning spikes of lilac purple flowers with white overtones rising above the foliage from early to mid summer, which emerge from distinctive burgundy flower buds. It's attractive fragrant round leaves remain green in color with showy creamy white variegation throughout the year.

Culinary herb for gardens and containers. Commonly used for seasoning meats, fish, poultry, soups and vegetables.

One of the first thymes to flower each year, this charming and reliable cultivar bursts into bloom in early spring with unique salmon-pink flowers. Its fuzzy olive-green foliage forms a mat 1 to 2 inches tall and 18 inches wide. It is one of the most tolerant of thymes of dry conditions, but grows robustly with plenty of water.

Thymus citriodorus ‘Archers Gold’ is a low-growing, mat-forming lemon-scented thyme, bearing golden-yellow-green leaves and pink flowers in summer. It’s perfect for use in culinary dishes, particularly chicken and fish recipes.

Creates an eye-catching carpet of gold and green variegated leaves when in bright light. Lemon scent is released when leaves are crushed. Makes a wonderfully fragrant groundcover or container plant. Attractive in rock gardens.