The Study and Sharing of Information on Rock Gardening in Alaska
Alaska Rock Garden Society

Category: Flowers

Hardy Plants

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Campanula cochlearifolia

Type: rhizomatous herbaceous perennial
Family: Campanulaceae
Color: deep blue
Exposure: Full sun or partial shade
Bloom Month: Early to mid summer
Height: 6-8 inches
Shape: Clump forming, 8-10 inches across
Soil: Normal, or sandy
Moisture: average, well drained
Origin: native to the Pyrenees, Alps, French Massif Central, and Carpathian Mountains of Central Europe.
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
Propagation: Propagate by cuttings
Notes: Also called Fairy Thimble; divide every 2 years in spring to maintain vigor.

Hardy Plants

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Campanula chamissonis

Type: Hardy perennial
Family: Campanulaceae
Color: mid-blue bells with paler centers
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Bloom Month: May through June
Height: 2-6”
Shape: Mat
Soil: any well-drained soil
Moisture: cool, moist soil
Origin: Native from Japan north through eastern Siberia, along the Aleutians and into northwestern Alaska
Hardiness Zone: zone 3-8
Propagation: By seed or division
Notes: This species is also known as C. pilosa, C. dasyantha and C. pilosa var. dasyantha.

Hardy Plants

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Callianthemum coriandrifolium

Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Color: White
Exposure: Full sun
Bloom Month: April-May
Height: 4-8”
Shape: tuft; low growing mound
Soil: well-drained scree
Moisture: evenly moist soil
Origin: native to the Alps, Carpathians and Pyrenees
Hardiness Zone: Zone 2
Propagation: From seed
Notes: They resent transplanting

Hardy Plants

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Aster alpinus

Type: herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Color: blue, indigo, violet, white, pink
Exposure: Full sun
Bloom Month: late spring – mid summer
Height: 6–12 inches
Shape: spreading mass
Soil: well drained with low fertility; soil- pH 6-7.5
Moisture: tolerates dry soil
Origin: Europe and Asia
Hardiness Zone: 4-7
Propagation: Propagate by cuttings, division or separation; Take cuttings in summer.
Notes: non-aggressive, non-invasive; divide plants about every 3 years in spring

Hardy Plants

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Aruncus dioicus “kneiffii”

Type: herbaceous perennial
Family: Rosaceae
Color: white
Exposure: Full to part sun
Bloom Month: Early summer
Height: 2-3’
Shape: 1.5 – 2‘
Soil: gravely soil amended with organic matter
Moisture: medium to wet
Origin: Northern hemisphere
Hardiness Zone: 3-7
Propagation: Division: lift clumps in spring, and cut the heavy rootstock with a sharp knife, leaving at least one eye per division.
Notes: Common name ‘Goat’s Beard’

Hardy Plants

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Aquilegia discolor

Type: Hardy perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Color: short blue, incurved spurs, and blue blades with white tips and throats
Exposure: Full sun
Bloom Month: Late spring to early summer
Height: 6”
Shape: 6-12”
Soil: Fertile, moist, well-drained soil.
Moisture: likes moisture
Origin: Northwest Spain
Hardiness Zone: 4-8
Propagation: Seed or division
Notes: Dead head spent flowers to prolong bloom; after blooming cut the plants down to the ground to rejuvenate

Hardy Plants

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Anemone lesseri

Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Color: pink
Exposure: Sun or Part shade
Bloom Month: May – June
Height: 1-1.5 ft
Shape: clump
Soil: trough, soil, or scree – rich & fertile
Moisture: average
Origin: herbaceous perennial.
Hardiness Zone: 5
Propagation: Division, root cuttings
Notes: hybrid produced from a cross between Anemone multifida and A. sylvestris

Hardy Plants

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Androsace sempervivoides

Type: Hardy perennial
Family: Primulaceae
Color: pink
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Bloom Month: April – June
Height: up to 4”
Shape: low rosette; loose mat
Soil: well drained with some organic content; not fussy about pH; does well in a trough
Moisture: dislikes winter wet
Origin: NW Himalayas, on grassy slope and stable gravels above 3000 m.
Hardiness Zone: 3
Propagation: By seed or stolon division.
Note – After flowering, the rosette dies but not before it sends out several red stolons, each which ends in a new rosette.

Hardy Plants

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Androsace sarmentosa

Type: hardy perennial
Family: Primulaceae
Color: rose/pink flowers with a dark eye;
Exposure: Sun-part shade
Bloom Month: April-June
Height: 4-5 inches
Shape: trailing mat; 12-18 inches
Soil: scree, trough, wall – needs excellent drainage
Moisture: dry
Origin: East Asia
Hardiness Zone: 3-7
Propagation: Division: New plants form on the ends of the trailing stems and are easily moved in early autumn or spring.
Note: hermaphrodite; prefers mixed forests, rocky slopes and open woodland, at elevation 8,900–13,100 ft

Hardy Plants

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Androsace carnea

Type: Hardy perennial
Family: Primulaceae
Color: Pink, rarely white with yellow eye
Exposure: Full sun
Bloom Month: April – June
Height: under 4”
Shape: Cushion
Soil: Scree, trough; gritty; light soils without lime
Moisture: well drained; water freely in dry weather and shelter from the sun in summer
Origin: Himalayas, the mountains of central Asia, the Caucasus, and the southern and central Alps and the Pyrenees
Hardiness Zone: 4-7
Propagation: Seed or single rosettes as cuttings in early to mid-summer
Note: Over forty species are known

Alaska Rock Garden Society

The society has been very active in bringing well know speakers to the area. The group leads seed collecting trips to areas of alpine plants in Alaska.

Contact Information

Alaska Rock Garden Society

Address:
12001 Audubon Drive
Anchorage, AK 99516

Email: jrtinker@mtaonline.net

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