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Alpine buying guide

As their name suggests, Alpines originate from mountainous regions. Because of the extreme locations and freezing temperatures that they’ve adapted to, these small, hardy plants can cope well in cold, exposed sites. They tend to be low growing and many produce gem-like flowers. Their compact shape means they’re perfect for the smallest spaces, while their resilient nature makes them compatible with amateur gardeners. Most alpines love dry, rocky conditions, so they’re ideal for containers, gravel gardens, rock gardens and even squeezed in between paving.

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Close-up of the delicate pink flowers of an aquilegia plant.Close-up of the delicate pink flowers of an aquilegia plant.Close-up of the delicate pink flowers of an aquilegia plant.Close-up of the delicate pink flowers of an aquilegia plant.

Aquilegia

Aquilegia are charming garden favourites known for their bonnet-shaped flowers and long graceful spurs. Otherwise known as columbines or granny’s bonnet, aquilegia are a genus of 60 plus species of perennial plants, found in meadows, woodlands and higher altitudes in the northern hemisphere. They come in a range of colours - including two-tone varieties - and require very little attention.

Location: full sun / partial shade

Soil: chalk, clay, loam, sand

Size: up to 0.7m

Bloom: late Spring early Summer

Close-up of an arenaria plant with small white flowers featuring a yellow center, creating a delicate and bright display.Close-up of an arenaria plant with small white flowers featuring a yellow center, creating a delicate and bright display.Close-up of an arenaria plant with small white flowers featuring a yellow center, creating a delicate and bright display.Close-up of an arenaria plant with small white flowers featuring a yellow center, creating a delicate and bright display.

Arenaria

These alpines are commonly known as mountain daisy. Most varieties have simple small green leaves (some are evergreen) with four- or five-petalled white, pink or purple flowers. They’re low growing, usually mat forming, and need very little care.

Location: full sun / partial shade

Soil: sand, loam

Size: 0.1 - 0.15m

Bloom: late Spring early Summer

A flower bed filled with vibrant purple, pink, and red aubrieta plants, creating a colourful and lively display.A flower bed filled with vibrant purple, pink, and red aubrieta plants, creating a colourful and lively display.A flower bed filled with vibrant purple, pink, and red aubrieta plants, creating a colourful and lively display.A flower bed filled with vibrant purple, pink, and red aubrieta plants, creating a colourful and lively display.

Aubrieta

Aubrieta is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the cabbage family brassicaceae. This evergreen perennial produces a carpet of flowers in purple, blue, pink or reed to raised beds and stone walls - the traditional variety has dainty four-petalled blooms atop mounds of foliage. An interesting fact: this plant is named after French botanical artist, Claude Aubriet.

Location: full sun

Soil: chalk, loam, sand

Size: up to 50cm

Bloom: mid to late Spring

A close-up of the delicate white flowers of a campanula plant, with soft petals and a hint of green foliage in the background.A close-up of the delicate white flowers of a campanula plant, with soft petals and a hint of green foliage in the background.A close-up of the delicate white flowers of a campanula plant, with soft petals and a hint of green foliage in the background.A close-up of the delicate white flowers of a campanula plant, with soft petals and a hint of green foliage in the background.

Campanula

With their happy nodding heads, campanula, or bellflower plants, are cheery perennials. These long-lasting alpine plants are native to regions where nights are cool and temperatures moderate, which means growing conditions in the UK are ideal. They’re a diverse group of plants, ranging from small, creeping species to towering perennials. Most varieties have bell- or star-shaped flowers in hues of pink, white, lavender, and light blue.

Location: full sun / partial shade

Soil: chalk, loam

Size: up to 1.2m

Bloom: late Spring early Summer

Close-up of the light pink flowers of a Lewisia plant, with vibrant petals and green foliage surrounding them in a flower bed.Close-up of the light pink flowers of a Lewisia plant, with vibrant petals and green foliage surrounding them in a flower bed.Close-up of the light pink flowers of a Lewisia plant, with vibrant petals and green foliage surrounding them in a flower bed.Close-up of the light pink flowers of a Lewisia plant, with vibrant petals and green foliage surrounding them in a flower bed.

Lewisia

Lewisia are clump-forming perennials with rosettes of fleshy leaves and open funnel-shaped flowers. They come in a wide range of colours, including purplish-pink, orange, yellow or white, and have a long flowering period. The genus is named for the American explorer, Meriwether Lewis, who encountered the species in America in 1806.

Location: partly shade

Soil: loam, sand

Size: 0.5 - 0.8m

Bloom: Spring and Summer

Close-up of a Lithodora plant with small, vibrant purple flowers, surrounded by green foliage.Close-up of a Lithodora plant with small, vibrant purple flowers, surrounded by green foliage.Close-up of a Lithodora plant with small, vibrant purple flowers, surrounded by green foliage.Close-up of a Lithodora plant with small, vibrant purple flowers, surrounded by green foliage.

Lithodora

Lithodora are evergreen shrubs that produce masses of tiny, vivid blue, star-shaped flowers trimmed with white. Its mats of low-growing foliage spread slowly to make good ground cover. This alpine is a genus of flowering plants in the family boraginaceae.

Location: full sun

Soil: chalk, loam, sand

Size: 0.1 - 0.5m

Bloom: Summer and Autumn

A flower bed featuring purple and white Saxifrage plants, surrounded by lush green foliage from other plants.A flower bed featuring purple and white Saxifrage plants, surrounded by lush green foliage from other plants.A flower bed featuring purple and white Saxifrage plants, surrounded by lush green foliage from other plants.A flower bed featuring purple and white Saxifrage plants, surrounded by lush green foliage from other plants.

Saxifrage

Saxifrage (or saxifraga) is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 440 species of small alpine and woodlands plants. Although they differ in flower, foliage and form, most garden varieties either have a cushion of leaves or a mat of leafy rosettes; both with a mass of tiny red, pink or white flowers in the summer.

Location: partial shade

Soil: chalk, loam, sand

Size: 0.1 - 0.5m

Bloom: late Spring

A small Sempervivum plant with triangular-tipped leaves, planted in a flower bed surrounded by other plants.A small Sempervivum plant with triangular-tipped leaves, planted in a flower bed surrounded by other plants.A small Sempervivum plant with triangular-tipped leaves, planted in a flower bed surrounded by other plants.A small Sempervivum plant with triangular-tipped leaves, planted in a flower bed surrounded by other plants.

Sempervivum

Sempervivums, also known as houseleeks, are hardy alpine plants typically native to rocky habitats in mountainous regions. Their Latin name translates as ‘always alive’ – a reference to their tolerance to extreme temperatures and drought. These succulents are most loved for their tufted leaves in distinctive rosettes. Each rosette is a separate plant, which only flowers once and then dies, but is soon replaced by other new rosettes called offsets.

Location: full sun

Soil: loam, sand

Size: 0.1 - 0.5m

Bloom: Spring and Summer