Sea Thrift

In the summer if you were to take a boat around the towering ocean cliffs of Cornwall in southern England, you would see carpets of little pink and white flowers dotting the rock faces in seemingly uninhabitable areas. Those are wild Sea Thrift, as sweet and dainty as a china cup, but as tough and hardy as a cement block.

We are happy to offer the urbanized version of these wildflowers. Modern Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima) is perfect in American gardens, big or small. They grow up every year in little tufts of bright green. In the spring after the leaves have formed, they grow spikes of small globular flowers that make you want to bend in closer to examine them.

Site these carefully in well-drained soil, and they will give you years of fantastic garden pleasure. They can't stand to be wet. It makes them rot from the center out. They actually thrive in rocky, bad soil as long as it is well-drained. Water them enough just to establish, then grow them dry and well-drained.

Thrift is remarkably versatile. Try them in pots, containers or troughs. Plant them in big masses as a lawn replacement for a "blooming" yard. Nestle them around rocks, along dry stream beds or spilling out of broken pottery for a naturalistic effect. They also make for a prim edger for smaller city gardens or to tidy-up the front of your perennial border. If you remove the spent flowers they will reward you with repeat blooms all summer long.

Don't wait to add these little beauties to your garden collection this year! Order yours today!