Grow Silky Rock Jasmine in Rock Gardens or Troughs

Virtues: We love 'Chumbyi' silky rock jasmine (Androsace sarmentosa 'Chumbyi') for its fuzzy foliage and fragrant pink flowers. This semi-evergreen miniature perennial is perfect for a rock garden, stone-wall planting or year-round containers dedicated to other alpine plants, such as a hypertufa trough. Recommended by Colorado's Plant Select Petites program in 2015.

Common name: 'Chumbyi' silky rock jasmine

Botanical name:Androsace sarmentosa 'Chumbyi'

Flowers: Clusters of flowers appear from red stems in spring and early summer. Each flower has 5 light pink petals surrounding a dark pink eye.

Foliage: Small, fuzzy green leaves are arranged in rosettes.

Habit: Mounding, spreading, semi-evergreen perennial that grows to 5 inches tall and 15 inches wide. Spreads by red stems that bear new rosettes of leaves.

Season: Spring and early summer for flowers; year-round for foliage.

Origin: Selection of a species native to western Asia. Androsace sarmentosa grows at high elevations on rocky slopes and mixed forests of eastern Pakistan, northern India and western China.

How to grow 'Chumbyi' silky rock jasmine: This perennial takes full sun or part shade. It requires excellent drainage, so provide silky rock jasmine with a gritty or gravelly soil. USDA Zones 3–8 (though it will not take excessive humidity).
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