AUBRIETA 'SILVER VARIEGATED'

Although plants with variegated leaves don't often appeal to me, Aubrieta 'Silver Variegated' stood out amongst the crowd the other day when I was plant hunting.  I'm looking for fillers to pretty up what was once intended to be a rose border.  As the roses failed to do well (disease, pests, flowers balling rather than opening up), I have pulled them up and donated them elsewhere.  Aubrieta is so commonly grown that I think, at times, people don't always appreciate the dazzling display they put on in spring.  But I don't want to grow nothing but plants that look plain and uninteresting when their flowering time is over.

Aubrieta 'Silver Variegated'







Aubrieta 'Silver Variegated' manages to have brilliant flowers and silver-edged green leaves without looking the least bit gaudy.  The instructions on the label are as follows:





A neat, silvery cushion with many navy-blue to purple flowers from March to May.  Hardy and perennial.  Good evergreen ground-cover for banks, rockeries and bed edges. 



Height: 10cm (4").  Spread: 40cm (16")



Position: Open and sunny in any reasonable, well-drained soil.



Planting instructions and aftercare:  Water your plant before removing from pot.  Prepare the planting area and enrich with compost and fertiliser.  Ensure that the hole is wide and deep enough so as not to damage the roots when planting.  Firm soil after planting and water regularly during the first year.  Top dress with general fertiliser and compost every spring.  Trim over after flowering if needed.



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Personally, I don't see any navy flowers unless they darken so much when they die.  I see only purples and mauves.