Rock Cress 'Little Treasures'
Rock Cress 'Little Treasures'
Rock Cress 'Little Treasures'

Multi Buy

Size Guide
3.5
3.5" Perennial
3 or more $6.00 ea
Regularly: $6.99 ea

Rock Cress 'Little Treasures'

Scott's Nursery Ltd.

$3.50
Title
Transform your early spring landscape into a dazzling, snow-white wonderland! This breathtaking perennial groundcover forms a dense, low-growing cushion of beautifully textured, scalloped silver-grey foliage. As winter recedes, this cool metallic mat is completely buried under a thick, fragrant blanket of sweet, star-like pure white blossoms. Sparkling brilliantly in the bright sun, it brings an immediate high-contrast radiance and exquisite texture to rock walls, borders, and garden paths.

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Plant Details

Mature Size:

6" H x 12" W

Zone:

4-9

Watering:

Low

Type:

Herbaceous Perennial

Growth Rate:

Fast

Light:

Full Sun

Plant Profile

Common Names:

Wall Rock Cress, Caucasian Rock Cress, Mountain Rock Cress, and Alpine Rock Cress

Scientific Name:

Arabis caucasica

Type:

Spiller / Groundcover

Growth Details:

Mature Size: Keeps an ultra-low foliage profile of 4–6 inches tall with a dense, spreading width of 10–12 inches.

Growth Habit & Form: Prostrate, creeping, and mat-forming, creating a densely interwoven, cushion-like carpet that smothers weeds.

Growth Rate: Fast-growing groundcover that quickly blankets bare earth and open garden gaps within a single season.

Flowering & Flower Colour: Produces an abundance of small, four-petaled, star-shaped blossoms in a brilliant, crisp white.

Flowering Time: A show-stopping, prolific bloom cycle blankets the foliage from early spring through mid-spring.

Environmental Needs:

Exposure: Unfiltered, open full sun is highly preferred to keep the tight, mounding form from stretching.

Soil Preferences: Thrives best in poor, lean, gritty, or sandy soil textures that provide rapid water percolation.

Soil Tolerance: Exceptionally tolerant of highly alkaline, chalky, infertile, and shallow rocky soils, but will rot rapidly in heavy clay.

Watering: Minimal water intervention once established; rely primarily on natural rainfall, watering manually only during extended summer droughts.

Container Role: Functions as an exceptional, cascading "Spiller" along the outer rims of stone urns, alpine troughs, or window boxes.

Special Features:

Fragrant Blooms: The spring flowers emit a sweet, delicate fragrance that drifts beautifully through the garden on warm afternoons.

Resistances: Outstanding built-in resistance to browsing deer, rabbits, and common insect pests due to the texture and essential oils in its foliage.

Drought Champion: Highly adapted to cliffside environments, allowing it to remain lush and fully turgid during fierce, dry heatwaves.
Care Guide

Ornamental & Landscape Value

Seasonal Interest:

Bloom Information: Masses of highly showy white blossoms completely cover the plant for weeks in spring, turning it into a solid sheet of white.

Fall Colour: The scalloped, silver-grey leaves retain their clean, luminous coloration all through autumn without fading.

Winter Interest: True evergreen; the dense silver carpet holds its structure and colour through the winter months, providing excellent contrast against bare dirt or snow.

Garden Value:

This plant delivers massive landscaping and ornamental value by acting as a brilliant, light-reflective groundcover that brightens up sun-baked garden spaces early in the season. It is heavily utilized for modern rock gardens, alpine beds, planting directly into the crevices of dry stone walls, framing steep sunny slopes for erosion control, and defining the front edge of perennial borders where it cascades beautifully over concrete or stone pathways.

Wildlife & Human Value:

Wildlife Value: The early-spring blanket of white flowers acts as a rich nectar source for emerging native pollinators, drawing in honeybees, small native solitary bees, and early butterflies.

Human Value: Provides a beautiful, zero-mowing alternative to grass turf on steep, sunny hillsides, drastically reduces summer watering bills, and adds immense architectural, cool-toned contrast to modern stone landscapes.

Planting & Care Guide

Planting Considerations:

Best Time To Plant: Early spring as soon as the soil can be worked, or early autumn to let roots establish before winter.

Spacing: Space individual starter plugs 10 to 12 inches apart to allow them to quickly weave together into a seamless silver carpet.

Location Tips: Select elevated beds, slopes, or gravelly zones with premium drainage; strictly avoid low spots where rainwater collects.

Companion Plants: Pairs exquisitely with other early-spring bloomers and succulents like creeping Phlox, Aubrieta (Rock Cress), Basket-of-Gold (Aurinia), and early tulips.

Care:

Light Requirements: Demands full, bright sun, requiring at least 6 hours of unshaded direct sunlight daily to maintain its intense foliage coloration and maximize spring flower density.

Moisture Requirements: Low moisture needs; requires excellent soil drainage and must dry out thoroughly between waterings to protect against crown rot.

Maintenance & Fertilization: Strictly minimal maintenance; avoid rich fertilizers as too many nutrients cause the tight mat to become loose and leggy. Give the entire plant an aggressive haircut with shears immediately after the spring flowers fade to remove spent blooms and promote a fresh, dense cushion of silvery leaves.

Tolerances:

Drought, Intense Heat, Poor Dry Soils, Alkaline Soils, Shallow Rocky Soils, Deer, and Rabbits.

Tips For Success:

The Post-Bloom Haircut: Do not skip shearing this plant back after it finishes flowering; cutting it back by half prevents the center from getting bare or woody and forces a tight flush of beautiful new leaves.

Avoid Organic Mulch: Never use heavy wood mulch around this plant as it traps moisture against the leaves; use pea gravel or crushed stone instead.
Fruit Profile