Paronychia kapela subsp. serpyllifolia

The Paronychia kapela ssp. serpyllifolia, also known as the Thyme-leaved Paronychia, forms, somewhat like creeping thymes, low carpets of green-gray color, sometimes tinged with orange in autumn, attractive all year round. In spring or summer, its foliage almost disappears under a curious flowering that resembles ivory tissue paper with silvery and pearly reflections. Once well established, this paronychia is perfectly resistant to frost and lack of water. Its unique beauty works wonders in rockeries, on dry slopes, above walls, in gravel beds...

The Paronychia kapela ssp. serpyllifolia (formerly Illecebrum serpyllifolium) belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family. It is a perennial and evergreen undershrub native to the western Mediterranean. In nature, it can be found in limestone meadows and on rocks, both in plains and mountains. In France, this species is naturally present in the southeast and in the Pyrenees region. It is a very hardy xerophyte plant adapted to nitrogen-poor, highly calcareous, well-drained soils, even dry in summer and winter. Kapel's paronychia develops long ramified stems covered with tiny tile-shaped leaves, succulent and leathery, gray-green in color. Due to the cold, the stems and leaves often take on orange to reddish tones. The vegetation does not exceed 5 cm (2in) in height, but spreads over more than 50 cm (20in). Flowering occurs from April to June, depending on the climate. The tiny flowers have no petals, but a few inconspicuous yellowish-green sepals. However, they are surrounded by numerous translucent bracts of light color, with a papery texture and pearly reflections. The dried flowers remain decorative for a long time, so the carpet always appears in bloom until September.

The Thyme-leaved Paronychia is a true plant for arid rock gardens that becomes surprisingly robust, hardy, and persistent under such conditions, without requiring much attention. Forming a superb silvery carpet in the sun, planted in small groups in a rockery, on a slope, or as a border in a raised bed, it can also be used as an alternative to lawn in very sunny and lightly trodden areas. It is a small plant adapted to waterless gardens in the Mediterranean zone, but also in alpine gardens. Combine it with rockroses, low cistus, Origanum dictamnus, Sempervivum, Corsican spurge, Sedum spurium, Antennaria dioica Rubra...