GENTIANA Verna

Gentiana verna

Height x Spread:  5cm x 10cm

Simply stunning, spring gentian really catches your eye due to its deep intense blue ankle-high starry flowers, each highlighted with a tiny white throat, that appear over a slowly spreading mat of evergreen greyish foliage. 

Native to mountainous areas of Europe, this diminutive alpine can be found growing wild in Northern Ireland and County Durham, its show-stopping floral display lasting from late spring into early summer.  Fairly picky, it needs a sunny spot in light, free draining soil with some moisture and organic matter to thrive.  Perfect for a spring container or specimen plant in a rock garden, if your site and soil conditions are wrong, follow the alpine enthusiasts and grow it in a trough.  You will not regret it.