Fairy Candelabras: Using an Unusual Plant to Provide Year Round Interest.

(Androsace Carnea ssp. Laggeri)

Jaime Willmann

I am always on the lookout for a plant that can flower and provide year round interest. Sometimes someone loves plants so much that they either so many and need to get rid of a plant and replace it with a better one, or choose a much smaller variety to put in a spot that is “just perfect” for the new plant. If you only have a tiny spot in your yard, if you love trough gardening, alpine plants, or rock gardening, this may be a plant for you to consider.

Androsace, is also known as rock primrose or fairy candelabras. They are alpine plants belonging to the Primrose order. About 100 of this genus are known, and when the mountains of India, Tibet, and China are thoroughly explored, even more species may be found. In the Alps, about twenty species are found and they can also be seen growing in the Himalayas and China.

Of most of the Androsace, Carnea  ssp. Laggeri is the easiest of Androsace to grow. This hardy perennial is USDA zones 4-7 but care should be taken to treat it as the alpine plant it is. Laggeri is a small plant and is ideal for troughs, rock gardens and raised beds. Laggeri adds beauty in two ways – first through the late spring flush of pink flowers it provides, but also through the small evergreen cushion of foliage in the winter months.  The flowers of Laggeri are small clusters of very small cupped, deep pink flowers with yellow eyes.  The foliage consists of mid green pointed leaves arranged in small, tight rosettes. Overall, the plant creates a very small cushion reaching only 2 inch tall by 6 inches wide.

Laggeri prefers full sun, a soil ph between 5.6-7.8 and drainage is critical. These are best planted in crevices between stones at least 15 inches in depth. They should be packed firmly with pure sandy peat, or very sandy or gritty loam, not less than 15 inches deep. Providing a top dressing of soil and gravel helps before winter and should be renewed in the spring.  This not only prevents rot and disease, but it also encourages fresh roots to be made from the underside of the stems. When growing Androsace Carnea Laggeri, be on the lookout for aphids, slugs, and spiders.   Remove dead rosettes to prevent rot and disease.

I can picture this rock primrose en masse. A grouping of small evergreen cushioned mounds could be a striking contemporary display, a formal grouping, or on a sloped rock garden, or tucked in-between two or three well placed rocks. This plant may require a little extra care because it is an alpine plant in a Midwestern environment, but any plant that works hard to look good all year long, in my opinion, is worth the extra attention it may require.   

Photo Courtesy of: http://magnar.aspaker.no/liste.htm