Saxifrages

[woodypecks]

Hallo, Whilst watching Beechgrove Garden this week I fell totally in love with a Saxifrage "Nicholas " and straight away sent off for one on line . This I believe is an Alpine plant......totaly new to me .... I have a little pot ready for it when it arrives , but not sure what compost to use ?  Would it be O.K  in multi purpose compost which I already have on hand  or does this need something more special ? Thanks . Debbie 

[woodypecks]

[caroline7758]

I'm no expert but I would think adding some gravel for drainage would help?

[woodypecks]

Thanks Caroline , I,ve got some sand I could add to the compost . Being Alpine does it prefer to be in the shade  I wonder ?  ....

[Palustris]

It is a Silver Saxifrage. The silver comes from the lime encrustations on the leaves of many of the forms. It needs well draining compost with a little lime added. They like a good dose of sun do the silvers, but do not let the pot itself get so hot that it fries the roots. To be honest, Nicholas will eventually get quite big. Mine must be a clump of over 18 inches across, so it is probably better planted in the ground, unless you can give it a bigger and bigger pot. By the way if it does flower (18 inch tall sprays of white flowers about now) the flowering rosette will die. You need to then very carefully take it away without removing the new side rosettes. There are dozens of Silver Saxifrages. I have over 30 different ones and there are a lot more in the National collection.

[woodypecks]

Thankyou ever so much Palustris , that was ever so helpful ..... so I just have to hope that the plant they send me hasn't flowered then . Sounds like these Alpines can be very addictive !  Debbie   

[Palustris]

This is just a few of ours, in planters rather than the ground.

[woodypecks]

Ooh ! .. I ,m loving those sempervivums too !    Debbie