Iberis sempervirens First Flush™ Grace

Iberis sempervirens ‘First Flush Grace’ is a small, generous and easy-going perennial, perfect for enlivening the garden or balcony from early spring. With its compact habit and dense, dark green foliage, it forms pretty cushions covered with white, nectar-rich flowers. This evergreen candytuft is happy both in a pot and in the open ground, on a low wall, in a border or at the front of a flower bed. Easy to grow, it likes sun and only dislikes heavy or too wet soils.

Iberis sempervirens 'First Flush™ Grace' belongs to the Brassicaceae family. The type species is nicknamed silver basket, evergreen Iberis or evergreen Thlaspi. The cultivar 'Grace', part of the FIRST FLUSH™ series, developed in Israel by the Danziger group, flowers from the first year of growth, without vernalisation, with abundant and prolonged flowering and excellent heat tolerance. Wild Iberis sempervirens is a perennial or an undershrub with a creeping habit, found in southern Europe (Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy, Balkans), North Africa (Morocco, Algeria) and areas of Syria and Turkey. 
The variety 'Grace' forms a small dense dome, sometimes spreading, 15–20cm tall and 30–35 cmwide. The foliage consists of very small, leathery, dark green leaves, and the plant can produce offshoots or layer easily from stems in contact with the soil. The flowers are small, composed of four petals, grouped in flat corymbs, pure white, sometimes tinged with pink at maturity. They are visible from March to May, then occasionally during summer. These flowers attract pollinators. The foliage is generally evergreen in winter.

In flowering rock gardens, Iberis sempervirens ‘First Flush Grace’ is hardy (-30° C). It thrives in well-drained, light soils, even poor, chalky and dry in summer. In the garden, it can also be used in borders of flower beds or pathways, or on sunny slopes. You can associate it with aubretias and baskets of gold. If you grow it in pots, choose a light, well-drained substrate and don't forget to water it regularly. You can use it on the edge of a large flower container filled with generous annuals.