Sea thrift
Armeria maritima · Plumbaginaceae
Tight, grassy, evergreen cushions with pink or white drumstick flowers on short stems in late spring. It grows wild on sea cliffs.
- Size
- 8 in tall, 10 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around sea thrift
The planner designed this bed around sea thrift when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why sea thrift stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 19, blue
- 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Blanket flower 'Burgundy' × 4, red
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only pink.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 8 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 60% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Silver sage is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early May to mid June.
- Opens the season. For its first two weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 51% of the planted ground. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow and red as the warm notes, and tan to calm things between them. The back corners are held by false sunflower 'Summer Nights' and little bluestem 'The Blues', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 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 sea thrift goes in a border
At 8 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
A neat little globe-flowered edging plant that tolerates salt and wind. Rich or wet soil rots the centre of the cushion; lean and dry is what it wants.
- Edging for dry, sunny beds
- Seaside and salt-exposed gardens
- Rock gardens and troughs
What to plant with sea thrift
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Creeping thyme: in flower together for two weeks, from early June; low enough (3 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch': in flower together for five weeks, from mid May; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about sea thrift
Does sea thrift need sun or shade?
Sea thrift grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does sea thrift grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 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 sea thrift flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Mid May to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Late April to early June |
| Zone 8 | Mid April to early June |
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 sea thrift be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 8 in (20 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sea thrift 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 runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is sea thrift poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat sea thrift?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after sea thrift?
Sea thrift is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does sea thrift look like in winter?
Sea thrift keeps its dark 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.
Is sea thrift good for bees and butterflies?
Sea thrift is visited by bees and butterflies.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 8 in (20 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June; globes; pink, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Plumbaginaceae
- Comes from
- Europe and North America, Greenland
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought, salt
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.