Androsace - Rock Jasmine

(Andro'sace)

DESCRIPTION: These are Alpine plants found in the high mountains of Europe, Asia and North America. They bloom in early spring. They belong to the Primrose family. Each kind is described below in the varieties section.

POTTING: These plants are great for the rock garden. Some are easy to care for and some need special treatment. They need a well-drained soil consisting of loam, sand, leaf mold and grit. Most of them need a spot that is partially shaded and plenty of water during dry weather in the spring and summer. Some will thrive on sloping or level parts of the rock garden; others should be planted in vertical crevices among the rocks.

PROPAGATION: As soon as they are done flowering, the old plants can be separated into pieces and repotted singly in small pots of gritty soil and placed in a shady frame until well rooted. Seeds can also be sown as soon as they are ripe in late summer in pans of gritty soil kept in a shady cold frame until they sprout. When they're large enough to handle, the baby plants are set 2 inches apart in new flower pans and, later, they're potted separately in small pots. They are kept in the frame until they have formed a good root system, which is when they can be planted outdoors. Cuttings may also be inserted in pots of sandy soil in June or July and set in a cold, shady frame kept closed for a few weeks.

VARIETIES: These are the most easily grown kinds - A. carnea (3 in., gray leaves, rose colored flowers in May. It should be planted in an open part of the rock garden in peat and sandy loam that's 12 in. deep); A. foliosa (6-8 in., large heads of lilac-rose flowers. Needs open, sunny spot and should be planted in loamy soil containing lime); A. lanuginosa (gray, fuzzy leaves and small umbels of rose colored flowers from May on; looks nice when placed so its trailing stems will fall over a rocky ledge. Needs stony compost of loam and leaf mold).

The best kinds - A. sarmentosa (dense rosettes of silvery gray leaves from which runners develop; rose-colored flowers; plant in loam, leaf mold & sand); A. lactiflora (annual with white flowers on 6-in. stems from April to June. Freely seeds).

More difficult kinds - A. ciliata (2-3 in., carmine-red flowers in June; plant in partial shade, vertical rock crevice in very gritty soil); A. helvetica (about 1 in., bears white, yellow eyed flowers. Needs very gritty soil); A. glacialis (plant in spring in a moraine or rock garden in gritty compost consisting of stone chips and sandy, loamy soil. Bears rose-colored flowers in April and May); A. imbricata (argentea) (3 in. high, white or pink flowers in June. Plant in rock fissures in gritty soil); A. pyrenaica (dwarf plant with white, yellow centered flowers in May. Plant in rock fissures in sandy loam and peat); A. villosa ( 2-4 in. high, has rose or white, sweet scented flowers in May and June. Plant in stony, loamy, gritty soil in a sunny place).

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