Androsace & Douglasia

	Where the garden meets the wild
	ANDROSACE & DOUGLASIA ROCK JASMINE Primulaceae (Primula family) 点地梅属 Dian di mei shu
	Return to Plants Index Perennials Rock-garden plants How to Order

	Androsaces are small, addictive alpine plants related to primulas. Douglasias are very similar small, addictive plants that experts like to argue over: Are they really all androsaces, or not? We follow the Colorado botanist Tass Kelso and her allies, who make Douglasia a separate genus on the basis of both DNA and physiology: Douglasia's thickened endosperm cell walls are pitted, not smooth as in Androsace. Douglasias have pink to purple flowers and are found mainly in northwestern North America, with a few in eastern Asia. Androsaces have flowers of white, pink, purple or red and are found mainly in Eurasia, with a concentration in the Himalaya. Whatever you call them, these plants like a moist but well aerated, sunny site with a cool root run. We grow them on slopes in coarse grit and gravel mixed with a little organic matter, among large rocks for shadow. Our older garden douglasias grow under a translucent roof, protected from rain and snow. They're doing fine, but such cosseting appears unnecessary. Androsaces and douglasias sown since 1999 have been fully exposed year-round, both in pots and in the garden. They are vigorous and make tighter mounds.

	Photograph © Paige Woodward	*Androsace alpina* Lamarck. The flowers of this Swiss endemic may be pink or white; ours are white. Our plants are from exchange seeds. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $6.00

	Photographs © Pat Woodward	**Androsace chamaejasme subsp. lehmanniana (Sprenger) Hultén. Rock jasmine.** Sometimes called plain A. lehmanniana. Our plants descend from seeds collected wild in the Alberta Rockies; their leaves turn red at the tips in autumn. Height to 3 cm (1"). Zone 5, perhaps colder. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $5.00

	Photograph © Paige Woodward	Androsace ciliata De Candolle. Native to the Pyrenees. Our plants are from exchange seeds. Zone 5, perhaps colder. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $6.00

	Photographs © Paige Woodward	*Androsace lanuginosa* Wallich. This plant makes silky-hairy, blue-green, deciduous rosettes that send out more rosettes on runners. Pink flowers that fade to white bloom in July-August. The species is widespread in the Himalaya. Our stock descends as offsets from a plant received from the ace grower Roger Barlow. We cut the runners back in spring but if you want a matted bank of this, now's your chance. Not invasive. Just vigorous. A beautiful grey-blue. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $6.00

	Photograph © Paige Woodward	Androsace septentrionalis Linnaeus. Fairy candelabra. Our plants are from seeds collected wild at several sites in British Columbia. All bear candelabra 2-5 cm (1-2") across on stems up to 7 cm (3") tall. This species is annual or biennial; the point is always to have at least a few plants seeding about the rock garden. Zone 5. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $5.00

	Photograph © Paige Woodward	*Androsace spinulifera* (Franchet) R. Knuth. 刺叶点地梅 Ci ye dian di mei (Chinese). Umbels of pink to red flowers rise on 7-30 cm (3-12") scapes in midsummer. The leaves, in rosettes, have a mucro or spine at the tip. Native to China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $5.00

	Photograph © Idaho Fish & Game	Douglasia idahoensis D. Henderson. Idaho dwarf-primrose. Seldom seen in rock gardens, this beautiful plant is native only to a few high-elevation ridges and granitic screes in central Idaho, where our seeds were collected. Its pink to maroon flowers have a yellow eye and bloom abundantly right after snowmelt, which might be any time from May to July. Its rosettes of small, evergreen, succulent, lance-shaped leaves form low mats; when flowering ends they are suffused with anthocyanins and turn a distinctive red-tinged green. Height to 3 cm (1.2"). Prefers a cool, moist site: try a north-facing slope. Zone 4. Not available this season.

	Photograph © Pat Woodward	*Douglasia laevigata* Asa Gray. Smooth douglasia. This delightful, mounding species is highly variable. Its two botanical varieties, laevigata and ciliolata, intergrade; assigning one name or the other can be arbitrary. The plant in our photograph, for example, has the more robust, toothed leaves of var. ciliolata, but only a few short marginal hairs at the base of the leaf; some of our plants with toothed leaves are virtually hairless, which by rights should make them var. laevigata. And then we have some "true" laevigata, with smooth, toothless leaves. Our plants are grown from seeds received from the Androsace Society. Some were collected wild in the mountains of Washington State; others were collected in the Columbia River gorge, or descend from seeds collected there. We can't guarantee which form you will receive. They are all very much worth growing. Height to 5 cm (2"). Zone 5. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $5.00

		Douglasia montana Asa Gray. Montana douglasia. These needle-leaved plants resemble tiny conifer seedlings. They form extensive mats that are smothered with pink flowers in spring. Our plants are from seeds collected wild in Alberta. Height to 4 cm (1.5"). Zone 3. Not available this season

	Photograph © Pat Woodward	Douglasia nivalis Lindley. Snow douglasia, Chumstick form. This is one of our favorite plants. Its rosettes of velvety, grey-green, spidery leaves build up in casual mounds that last all year. Its pink flowers bloom on and on in April. Our plants are from seeds collected wild on the high screes of Chumstick Mountain in central Washington state. (We have grown this for years but always get new wild seeds.) In the photograph at left ~ please click to enlarge it ~ you see a plant we've had for three years. The trough it grows in is sheltered from precipitation but open to the other elements. In summer, we water it once in a while. In winter, the closest we come to irrigation is piling it with snow. Height 5-8 cm (2-3"). Zone 5. Pot 6 cm / 2.5". $6.00

	Return to Plants Index Perennials Rock-garden plants How to Order

	This page was updated March 26, 2008.