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 sarmentosa – This vigorous perennial grows 2-4” tall and spreads to 12” wide and is found from the Himalayas to Western China.  It forms a mat, spreading by runners and produces rosettes ½-1 ¼” across of narrowly oval to broadly elliptic silvery hairy light green leaves ½-1 ¼” long.  In late spring and early summer it bears compact umbels of 3-8 pale deep rose pink flower ¼ -3/8” across with yellow centers. Zones 3-8