Blankets of tiny, sparkling white flowers blooming from late spring to early summer give this hardy perennial its name. After the flowers have wilted, the silvery woolly foliage of the plant remains; it can withstand some of the toughest droughts.
Snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) offers a solid option for adding botanical beauty to retaining wall crevices and stones in a rock garden. The Cerastium genus belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family and consists of around 200 species[1] of flowering plants.
This smooth-textured plant grows calmly all year round until it reaches its peak of flowering in April/May. At this stage, the fluffy gray carpet of leaves is covered with a dense layer of white flowers compared to a layer of snow.
Additional flowering usually occurs in smaller quantities all through the summer. It is a fast-growing carpet-like plant that grows 6 inches tall and can become 2 to 3 feet wide. It is usually planted as a ground cover with small plants 2 to 3 feet apart.
