Mossy saxifrage
Saxifraga x arendsii ·
Soft, bright green cushions like moss, covered in spring with small, upturned flowers of pink, red or white on thin stems.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late April to late May
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around mossy saxifrage
The planner designed this bed around mossy saxifrage when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why mossy saxifrage stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Mossy saxifrage × 20, pink
- 2 Carpathian bellflower × 8, blue
- 3 Blue wood aster × 5, lavender
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Lady's mantle × 3, green
- 7 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, daisies, dense clusters and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 20 plants in 5 groups (5, 5, 4, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late April to late May.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Mossy saxifrage repeats along the bed to tie it together. A cool scheme: pink, blue, lavender, white and green.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where mossy saxifrage goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A cushion for a cool, moist rock garden or the shady side of a wall. It browns in the centre in hot sun or drought: give it shade at midday.
- Rock gardens in part shade
- Troughs
- Edging in cool climates
What to plant with mossy saxifrage
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English primrose: in flower together for three weeks, from late April; happy in the same moist soil.
- Fairy thimbles: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June.
- Dwarf crested iris: in flower together for four weeks, from late April.
Questions about mossy saxifrage
Does mossy saxifrage need sun or shade?
Mossy saxifrage grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does mossy saxifrage grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 7. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does mossy saxifrage flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early May to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to mid May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should mossy saxifrage be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many mossy saxifrage plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 20 in five groups.
Is there a native plant like mossy saxifrage?
Mossy saxifrage is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Woodland stonecrop: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; white, not pink, not evergreen.
- Green-and-gold: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; yellow, not pink, medium leaves, not fine.
- Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; lavender, not pink, medium leaves, not fine.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after mossy saxifrage?
Mossy saxifrage is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Fairy thimbles: from late June to early August, 4 in tall (a recorded partner).
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
What does mossy saxifrage look like in winter?
Mossy saxifrage keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Saxifraga
- London pride Saxifraga x urbium
- Strawberry begonia Saxifraga stolonifera
In these guides
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late April to late May; open bowls; pink, red, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.