Lewisia 'Little Plum'

Lewisia 'Little Plum': Rose-Purple Bursts From Hot, Dry Cracks

'Little Plum' is small, dark and fancy, like the last chocolate in the box that everybody has been eyeing. Intense rose-purple stars with a flash of orange over a fleshy rosette. HANDS OFF. IT'S TAKEN.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Lewisia longipetala hybrid 'Little Plum'
• Common Name: Cliff Maids, Lewisia
• Height: 15 cm (6 in) in flower
• Spread: 20–25 cm (8–10 in)
• Flowers: Star-shaped, intense rose-purple, opening with a touch of orange
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer (May to June), often reblooming in September
• Foliage: Narrow, fleshy, dark green leaves in low tufts

Where to Plant: This is a plant for rock gardens, stone walls, gravel gardens, alpine troughs and containers. Tucked into the gap between two stones, it gets the perfect drainage it needs and shows off its flowers at eye level. Plant several in a drift along the front of a gravel bed for a ribbon of colour.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Little Plum' in a rock garden or gravel bed with fast drainage and other dry-soil plants. Geranium sanguineum adds magenta cranesbill at 25 to 45 cm from June to August. Echinacea angustifolia brings pale pink coneflowers at 30 to 60 cm in June and July. Phlomis tuberosa adds whorls of lavender-pink flowers at 90 to 150 cm from June to August. Bouteloua curtipendula stands behind at 60 to 75 cm in flower, a native side-oats grama.

Plant Care: Drainage is everything. Plant in gritty, sandy or gravelly soil that never stays wet, and avoid heavy clay unless you build a raised, rocky bed. Set the crown slightly high or on a slope, and top-dress around it with fine gravel so the rosette sits dry. Rot at the crown is the most common way to lose a lewisia. Water to establish it, then only in long dry spells. The plant may rest and look a little sparse in the heat of midsummer; keep it on the dry side then. Snip off spent flower stems after blooming to tidy it and encourage the fall flush. Lewisias dislike sitting in wet soil through a Canadian thaw. A vertical spot in a wall or a container that drains freely helps them through winter.

History: 'Little Plum' was the first of the Little Series from Jelitto Perennial Seeds in Germany, introduced in 2000. It began as a chance seedling found in Scotland, probably a cross between Lewisia longipetala and Lewisia cotyledon, two alpine species from the mountains of California and Oregon.

Final Thoughts: Tuck it into a stone wall where water drains fast and it will often bloom again later. LANDED THE PLUM JOB AND KEPT IT.