Many plants are suitable for a sunny location and therefore also for a rock garden. Whether wintergreen trees, grasses, perennials or colorful ground cover, everything can find its place between the stones. But everything in the rock garden should fit together and not appear overloaded. Therefore, you shouldn't choose so many different plants. You can select and compile based on a presented list. Especially if evergreen shrubs or ornamental grasses are planted alongside blooming flowers, a certain lightness is maintained.
Rock garden plants A to K:
Alpine Azalea
The graceful plant belongs to the heather family and can cope very well with a longer dry period and nutrient-poor soil. The plant has the following characteristics:
- evergreen
- richly branched
- between two and five centimeters high
- the branches lie on the ground and grow up to 45 cm long
- The approximately one centimeter large flowers hang here
Alpine aster
As the name suggests, the alpine aster usually occurs at higher altitudes. Therefore it is insensitive to wind and moisture.
The alpine aster has the following characteristics:
- star-shaped, purple, white or pink flowers
- large yellow stamp
- Flowering period from May to September
- becomes between 5 and 25 centimeters high
- compact growth with formation into a cushion
Alpine poppy
The small perennial with large yellow flowers is used to stony ground. It blooms between May and June and grows to a height of between 15 and 20 centimeters.
Alpine carnation
The graceful upholstery perennial is characterized by its delicate, carmine-pink flowers with dark eyes. Its foliage is pointed, bushy and blue-green. Since it is a cushion plant, it only grows up to 10 centimeters high.
Beargrass
Bear grass is also known as bearskin grass because its growth is strongly reminiscent of a bearskin. The individual stalks hang loosely and bushy downwards and do not grow upright. Other characteristics of the plant include:
- inconspicuous flowers
- grows round and spherical
- becomes between 15 and 30 centimeters high
- hardy and evergreen
Tip:
Evergreen, small shrubs as well as various ornamental grasses are suitable for loosening up the rock garden. Hardy plants don't make the rock garden look empty even in winter and are an eye-catcher in an otherwise winter-bare garden.
Blue Bulrush
The blue rush stands out from the other plants cultivated nearby primarily because of its color. Because it blooms brown-green in the months from July to August. The grass grows upright and reaches a height of around 50 to 70 centimeters.
Blue pillow
The blue cushion should definitely not be missing in a rock garden. However, the plant is not only available with blue flowers but also in white, purple and red. As the name suggests, the plant spreads like a pillow and the height is very low.
Blue Fescue
The familiar ornamental grass interrupts the rock garden with its long, swinging, bluish-green blades of grass. The wintergreen ornamental grasses are available commercially in various varieties that differ in leaf color and height. This grass does not have a tendency to overgrow.
Bluestar
Sky blue and star-shaped flowers delight hobby gardeners when cultivated as early as March. The stems with the racemose stems, often with several flowers, grow up to half a meter high, but the stems often do not grow straight but hang down curved. The plant is one of the hardy, undemanding and robust.
Carnation
The common carnation is also known as the rock garden carnation. It has the following features:
- bushy growing
- wintergreen perennial
- grows up to 20 centimeters high and 30 centimeters wide
- Flower colors Golden yellow, red in different tones, pink or white
- Flowering period from June to September
Autumn Crocus
The attractive autumn crocus is suitable for the late rock garden because it blooms from August to October. The funnel-shaped flowers are pink to light purple. The flower grows up to 20 centimeters high. It is important to mention its toxicity, including for pets and small children. There is also a risk of confusing the leaves with wild garlic.
Cat paws
The attractive basket bloomers offer the hobby gardener around 45 species, although the common cat's paw is usually cultivated in local rock gardens. The following properties are also important:
- forms dense carpets
- small, silver-green leaf rosettes
- purple pink inflorescences
- their shape is reminiscent of cat paws
Little Gorse
The Little Günster is a shrub with golden yellow flowers that appear in May and June. It has the following additional features:
- the small broom grows up to 60 cm high
- lots of small flowers
- deciduous in winter
creeping juniper
Bright steel-blue needles characterize this ground cover. Since the creeping juniper is an evergreen plant, it is also a splash of color in the rock garden during the winter. The plant has the following properties:
- becomes up to 2.50 meters wide
- between ten and fifteen centimeters high
- low-growing shrub
- Branches crawl across the ground
Crocuses
The graceful crocuses appear early in the year and stretch their flower heads into the air. But autumn-flowering crocuses are also known. Depending on the species, they grow up to 15 centimeters high. After flowering, the part of the plant on the surface dies, and the next year the yellow, white or purple flowers appear again.
Balljaw
The ball pines, also called mini pugs, belong to the mountain pines, but have been bred to be short. The spherical plant spreads out like a cushion in the rock garden. It grows very slowly and reaches a height of up to 30 cm. Since it is a type of pine tree, it stays green even in winter.
Rock garden plants L to Z:
Lavender
Of course, the violet-flowering lavender, which exudes an intense smell, should not be missing in a rock garden. It has the following additional features:
- perennial
- half-shrub
- Growth height between 60 centimeters and one meter
- Flowering period from July
- otherwise attractive plant due to lanceolate, silver-gray leaves
Daffodils
Daffodils and also the small daffodils are the typical spring bloomers that should not be missing in any garden, including the rock garden, as they herald the coming warm season with their yellow or white flowers. If the inflorescences have died after flowering, the bulb can remain in the ground. Depending on the species, the plants grow to a height of between 5 and 80 centimeters.
Low stonecrop
This all-purpose weapon for every garden is of course also wonderful for a rock garden. Because it has the ability to grow where nothing else grows. The low sedum can be recognized by the following characteristics:
- available with white or yellow flowers
- forms striking cushions
- very dense and flat growing
Primroses
Ideal spring flowers are the attractive primroses. They are among the first to show their flowers after a long winter. The primroses have the following properties:
- many different colored flowers
- become between 40 and 50 centimeters high
- evergreen after flowering
Cushion perennials
Cushion perennials are essential in the rock garden, because the blue or yellow cushions begin to bloom in spring. But there are also many summer bloomers here. Cultivated together in a stone bed, they produce long-lasting blooms throughout the warm months. The cushion perennials grow between 10 and 25 centimeters high.
Sun Beauty
The sunflower genus includes approximately 150 species. These bloom in a wide variety of colors from different shades of yellow to orange and apricot to red and white. They are hardy plants and are very easy to care for. The plant has the following characteristics:
- shrub-like plant
- Bloom in the late summer months
- evergreen
- flat-growing
- becomes 10 – 30 centimeters high
Steinkraut
Alyssum, also known as sweet stonewort, spreads bushily and low to the ground. From here extends a large abundance of round, small flowers in violet, lilac, pink or white. Further characteristics of the stone herb are the following:
- sweet, smelling of honey
- Flowering period from June to September
Dwarf bellflowers
The dwarf bellflower has many different flower colors from white to blue. It is interesting to see how it grows like a lawn and crawls over the ground. The bell-shaped flowers rise noddingly. The dwarf bellflower likes to grow through its neighbors. Therefore, care should be taken to ensure that the plants cultivated in the neighborhood can also cope with this.
Dwarf Iris
The attractive dwarf iris belongs to the iris family, which has the following properties:
- blue-purple flowers
- Early bloomers
- begins to bloom in late winter
- becomes between 20 and 30 centimeters high
Conclusion
There are so many different beautiful evergreen plants, perennials and grasses for the rock garden. All plants that want a sunny location and permeable soil are suitable for this. If hardy plants, early and late bloomers and evergreen trees are mixed together, the rock garden will remain a pretty eye-catcher all year round.
