Description

Androsace – Douglasia – Rock jasmine

There are about 100 species of annuals, biennials, mostly evergreen mat or cushion forming perennials, in this genus.  They occur in the mountains of the Northern Hemisphere.   The small rosettes produce hairy leaves and produce stemless or short stemmed tubular based small white or pink, 5 petalled flowers in spring in summer with flat or cup shape lobes held singly or in umbels.  Favorite for rock gardens.

If grown indoors plant in pans in full light with good ventilation very sharply drained mix of equal parts of soil based potting mix and grit with a collar of grit around the neck of the plant.  Best watered from below.

If grown outdoors, plant in moist but gritty well-drained soil in a trough in full sun.  In hot areas with hot summer provide shade from afternoon sun.

Prone to downy mildew, leaf spot, rust and aphids.

Androsace sempervivoides – This mat forming evergreen perennial derives from Kashmir and Tibet and grows 1-2” tall and slowly spreads to 6-8” wide.  On reddish stolons it produces open rosettes ½-1” across of oblong to spoon shaped leathery hairy edge mid green leaves ¼” long.  In mid and late spring it produces umbels of 4-10 pink to mauve pink scented flowers 3/8-1/2” across with yellow eyes sometimes turning red atop of  ¾”-3” long stems.

Zones 5-8