Arabis perennial – planting and care

Arabis, also known as rock cress, is a beautiful perennial plant literally covered in tiny flowers. Requiring no special skills for planting or caring, rock cress, which is perennial, will delight gardeners with an abundance of foliage and beautiful blooms in its second year.

As you can see from the photo, Arabis flowers are mostly snow-white, purple or pink.

Arabis species

There are several varieties of perennial rock cress, the planting and care of which in the Moscow region are virtually identical, so we will not consider each variety separately.

Their main difference, as you can see from the photo, is in their appearance.

Here are some of the most common varieties of Arabis:

• Alpine;
• bruoid;
• running out;
• Caucasian;
• ciliate-leaved.

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Preparing a landing site

Planting and caring for the perennial Caucasian Arabis (photos below) begins with choosing a suitable location.

It's best to find a site at an elevated elevation, as it will definitely avoid stagnant water, which can cause rot in the rockcress roots. It's also a big plus if the soil is non-acidic and rich in nutrients. However, even in unfavorable conditions, rockcress will delight you with beautiful blooms.

Once a suitable location has been found, you can begin preparing the soil. First, dig out the roots of perennial weeds, as they can interfere with the growth of the rock cress. Immediately before planting the rock cress, add sand, crushed stone, chalk, or dolomite to the holes. Another important point: the holes should be at least 30 cm apart.

If you do plant arabis in a place where water stagnates, be sure to provide drainage.

Watering and fertilizing

There's nothing complicated here either. The frequency of watering rock cress depends on the weather: in hot and dry weather, rock cress requires much more frequent watering than in cloudy and rainy weather. During the growing season, rock cress is also watered as needed.

As for fertilizing, it's enough to apply fertilizer once a year (in the spring). Humus or compost can be used as fertilizer. Before flowering, the plant can also be fed with complex mineral fertilizers.

Pruning and wintering of Arabis

Arabis is often planted so that it forms a full-fledged composition during flowering. To ensure everything turns out as planned, the rock cress needs to be pruned periodically during flowering.

To prevent the rock cress from spreading beyond its intended boundaries, pinching back long shoots is generally recommended. Also, note that the optimal time to remove old leaves from rock cress is June.

Arabis has a very difficult time overwintering in severe frosts, so the plant needs to be prepared before the cold snap hits, otherwise it won't survive. Preparing Arabis for winter is necessary if temperatures in your region drop below -10°C (14°F). In this case, the Arabis should be cut back to 3-4 cm and covered with dry leaves.

Another way to protect Arabis from severe cold is to create a special shelter. To do this, build a wooden frame over the plant and cover it with fabric. The edges of the fabric are secured with stones or covered with soil.

Diseases and pests

Having covered the planting and care of perennial terry arabis (see photo below), we need to discuss diseases and pests in detail, as they can significantly hinder the growth of these beautiful flowers.

First, let's talk about pests. Arabis doesn't have many:

1. Mollusks. Holes in the leaves indicate their presence on the plant. Mollusks most often appear on plants growing in areas with excess moisture.
2. Caterpillars. These pests feed on the pulp of leaves, flowers, and shoots. Timely loosening and mulching of the soil, as well as regular weeding and watering, will help get rid of them.
3. Cruciferous flea beetles. They most often attack young plants, especially in September and October. They can only be controlled with insecticides such as malathion or actara.

Snails and slugs are also pests of rock cress. They can only be controlled manually, and preventing their presence is virtually impossible.

Arabis is extremely disease-resistant, but there's one that even this plant can't resist. This disease is called "viral mosaic." It's indicated by the appearance of bright yellow flowers, similar to buttercups. Viral mosaic is incurable, so if your Arabis is affected, you'll have to dig it up and burn it.

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Transplanting Arabis

Sometimes a perennial rock cress needs to be replanted, and then, in addition to the care and planting process, the question of how to transplant the rock cress arises. Incidentally, the photo below shows a rock cress variety called "Snow Cloud."

So, regarding repotting, it's important to remember that rock cress has very fine roots that are easily damaged, so it's best to transplant it by transshipment. Here are detailed instructions for repotting this plant:

1. We prepare holes in advance, no more than 25 cm deep.
2. Before replanting, water the soil so that it is sufficiently moist.
3. We loosen the soil next to the rock cress and carefully remove it along with the soil from its previous location.
4. We transplant the rockcress into a new hole.
5. We fill the plant with soil and compact it slightly.
6. Water the plant again.

Seed harvesting

If you want to harvest Arabis seeds yourself and plant them next season, it's best to start harvesting in late summer. It's especially helpful if the weather is dry and sunny on the day of harvesting.

So, you need to cut off the inflorescences with flower stalks and leave them on sheets of paper at a temperature of 21-23 degrees in a place where sunlight does not penetrate.

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Combination with other colors

Although rock cress is beautiful on its own, gardeners often complement it with other plants. This creates picturesque compositions that look quite impressive. Rock cress pairs beautifully with the following plants:

• beetroot;
• aubrieta;
• bearded iris and its other species;
• young;
• tulips.

Arabis perennials can even be used to decorate balconies. The main requirement is that the balcony windows face south.

These are the basic rules for planting and caring for perennial rockcress (including alpine rockcress), which will help you easily and without unnecessary hassle grow the same beautiful flowers as in the photo in your garden.