Aethionema grandiflorum

This low mounding perennial exhibits an alluring combination of bluish foliage and round clusters of soft pink springtime blooms. Stone cress tolerates warm and humid summers but in all honesty would prefer to be a little cooler. We’ve maintained plants for several years in all-day full sun by growing them in a well-drained raised bed. A little afternoon shade would serve them even better. With its short stature, this native of Turkey and Iran begs to be grown in a well-drained rock garden. Give it an infertile slightly alkaline soil and keep it a little on the dry side. To tidy-up, remove the seedheads after flowering, but leave a few to encourage a few seedlings.