About
Androsace laevigata is a low-growing, evergreen perennial that reaches about 5 cm in height. It features compact rosettes composed of small, fuzzy, dark grey-green leaves. In early summer, it produces clusters of deep pink flowers, measuring up to 2 cm in diameter, on short stems.
About the genus
Androsace comprises annuals, biennials, or evergreen perennials that create mat-like or dense cushion formations. The flowers, which are typically salver-shaped, can appear individually or in clusters known as umbels.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Sand, Loam, Chalk
- Soil pH
- Neutral, Alkaline, Acid
- Soil moisture
- Well-drained, Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- West-facing, South-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H5
Plant details
- Plant type
- Alpine Rockery
- Habit
- Tufted
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Height
- Up to 10 cm
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- City and courtyard gardens, Cottage and informal garden, Patio and container plants, Rock garden, Gravel garden
- Native to
- Western N America
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Grow in moist but gritty well-drained soil in sun, in a rock garden, scree bed, or trough, in vertical crevices in rock-work or walls, or in an alpine house, where it can be protected from winter wet, in a mixture of sharp sand and leaf mould
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed sown in containers in an open cold frame as soon as ripe or in autumn. Root single rosettes as cuttings in early to midsummer. Keep moist but water from below to avoid wetting the rosettes
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free. May be susceptible to aphids under glass
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to fungal diseases in damp conditons