Saxifraga cotyledon Southside Seedling

Saxifraga cotyledon 'Southside Seedling' is a small perennial rock plant that prefers shade. It bears tall, pyramidal and trailing flower spikes adorned with tiny white star-shaped flowers with a centre marked with red to purple spots. They appear in summer, above unique, evergreen, grey-blue foliage made up of small succulent, ovate and dentate leaves arranged in rosettes. Perfectly hardy, it performs quite well in dry soil and easily establishes itself on walls or in troughs.

Saxifraga cotyledon, also known as S. pyramidalis, is a hairy and glandular perennial plant in the Saxifragaceae family. It is native to the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Scandinavia and Iceland, spreading as far as Lapland, growing in the crevices of rocks or cliffs and in rocky scree. The variety 'Southside Seedling', from which it originates, has the same cushion-like habit, developing through the juxtaposition of succulent leaf rosettes resembling the structure and colour of artichokes or houseleeks. The plant will reach 30 to 50cm (12 to 20in) in height when flowering, 15cm (6in) for the foliage, with a minimum spread of 30cm (12in). Like most mountain saxifrages, this one has fleshy, leathery, slightly dentate leaves. It is especially remarkable for the size of its pyramid-shaped flower spike, measuring 30 to 70cm (12 to 28in) in height, bearing a multitude of small open cup-shaped flowers. Each white petal displays red markings towards the centre. The flowers bloom from May to July, depending on the climate.

This plant is superb in rock gardens or pots, and perfect for covering walls. In cool climates, it performs well in dry soil in summer, while in warmer climates, it will require more shade and moist soil. It can be planted with Campanula poscharskyana 'Stella'. Together, they will quickly fill cracks in pavements and walls, along with creeping bugles and Ceratostigma plumbaginoides. It is also perfectly suited for a wild garden. It can be admired in pots, in light and well-drained soil, and in hanging baskets where it will cascade in small, ethereal waterfalls.