Plants for Rockery Gardens

Rockery gardens create a well-drained environment which may hold a relatively large number of plants for the space that the garden occupies. Choose low-growing plants using non-aggressive habits which won’t conquer their neighbors. Find the garden in sun, shade or partial shade, and choose suitable plants for each exposure. Most stone garden plants are easy to develop, but they need regular maintenance to keep free of weeds and to maintain them in the proper size.

Succulent Plants

Low-growing succulents grow slowly and have attractive growth habits for year-long interest. Hens and chicks, also known as houseleek (Sempervivum spp.) , have leaf rosettes that resemble a rose flower. Green leaves may be tinged with pink, bronze, purple or red, depending on the species or cultivar. Typical houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum), growing in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 10, has pink, purple or red flowers at the ends of short stalks in summer. For mounding rather than rosetted growth, stonecrops (Sedum spp.) Offer numerous species and cultivars. “October Daphne” stonecrop (Sedum sieboldii “October Daphne”) rises 6 to 12 inches tall and wide in USDA zones 3 through 9. Blue-gray leaves possess pink margins and then turn pink in sunlight. Foliage is topped by showy pink to lavender blooms in autumn. Both these succulents prefer full sunlight.

Shady Area Plants

Many choice rockery garden plants thrive in shaded conditions. Holly fern (Polystichum tsus-sinense) includes evergreen, triangular fronds with black venation and grows 6 to 12 inches tall. It can tolerate some morning or late day sun and is hardy in USDA zones 6 through 9. Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, displays vibrant deep green leaves which have variable silver markers in autumn when it blooms. Showy, white to pink flowers are held above the foliage on thin stalks, with numerous blooms per plant. The plant dies back after booming and is dormant during the summer months.

Ground Covers

Plants with mat-like growth offer great contrast to clumping or mounding rockery garden subjects. Think about “Red Mountain” ice plant (Delosperma dyeri “Psold”), growing in USDA zones 5 through 10. Trailing stems are covered with vertical, cylindrical succulent leaves and bright red, showy blooms. Put it to trail over stone edges or built-in terraces. It rises 2 inches tall and 15 to 20 inches wide. For a plant with fragrant leaves and showy red flowers in summer, creeping thyme (Thymus praecox “Coccineus”) rises 1 to 2 inches tall and spreads 12 to 18 inches wide. These botanical plants grow in USDA zones 2 through 9.

Early-Blooming Plants

Some rock garden subjects can provide the oldest bloom in your garden. The fragrant, 6- to 8-inch-tall, blue to purple blossoms of reticulated iris (Iris reticulata) look before the narrow, grass-like leaves are fully emerged. The plants die down for the summer, leaving the rounded bulbs underground. Find reticulated irises in which they don’t find much summer water to avoid decay and make certain bud set for the following year. They’re hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9. Common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), a different substrate plant using early bloom, can have flowers as early as late winter. It grows 4 to 6 inches tall and wide in sun or partial shade in USDA zones 3 through 8.

See related