Aubrieta ‘Westacre Gold’

This is a really popular plant on our nursery benches, and for good reason. Aubrieta ‘Westacre Gold’ offers a fantastic splash of colour in spring, with masses of violet-blue flowers appearing over the foliage. What makes this one a bit special is the leaf – small, grey-green and neatly edged with a pale yellow margin, which keeps the interest going even after the flowers have faded.

It’s a low, mat-forming perennial, reaching only about 10cm in height but spreading slowly to around 30-50cm. This habit makes it a classic for rock gardens or softening the edges of paths. It needs a spot in full sun to perform best and is happiest in well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil. It’s a tough little plant that will handle exposed sites without any fuss.

We find it’s very low maintenance. The key is to give it a good trim back after it has finished flowering in early summer. This encourages it to stay as a dense, compact cushion and stops it from going straggly. It’s an excellent plant for attracting bees into the garden early in the season.