Anyone growing petrophytum?

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General Alpines

Also posted in desert alpines.

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Anne Spiegel's picture

Anne Spiegel

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 9:35am

I've rown Petrophytum hendersonii for some years.  It is a reliable bloomer, and certainly handles drought.  Moe to the point for a northeasterner, it also seems to be able to adapt to the summer mugs that we have here.  I grow it in a limey scree.

Margaret Young's picture

Margaret Young

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 1:15pm

We grow Petrophytum hendersonii here in Aberdeen, north -east Scotland.  Good reliable plant for a raised bed. Ours would be growing in something to the acid side of neutral.

We used to grow a form of P.caespitosa, too, with little rounded sessile flower heads.... (at least, I think it was a form of caespitosa) but it got fed up with the wet summers.... who could blame it ?

Maggi Y.

Sellars's picture

Sellars (not verified)

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 3:05pm

I have Petrophyton hendersonii and Petrophyton caespitosum growing in the garden and they do OK but grow quite slowly. Both are in a mix with mostly sharp sand. I got my Petrophyton hendersonii from a nursery and it is definitely not the right plant having recently seen it in the wild:

http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=761.0

I have Petrophyton cinerascens in a plunge bed and once it gets bigger and I can get some cuttings I will try it outside.

DesertZone's picture

DesertZone (not verified)

Sat, 08/27/2011 - 5:42pm
David wrote:

I have Petrophyton cinerascens in a plunge bed and once it gets bigger and I can get some cuttings I will try it outside.

How hard are they to start from a cutting?

Sellars's picture

Sellars (not verified)

Mon, 08/29/2011 - 7:59pm

Cuttings of Petrophyton are not too difficult. I use a 50:50 mix of sharp sand and vermiculite with a plastic dome over a tray in the shade.

Panayoti Kelaidis's picture

Panayoti Kelaidis

Wed, 09/07/2011 - 7:51pm

I have a picture of one at Denver Botanic Gardens in a blog I did a few years ago.
http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/2008/09/01/recondite-plants-what-are-they-where-are-they-1/

I have several very distinct forms of Petrophytum caespitosum thriving in various gardens: one form from Colorado gets very large and branced and has great vigor. It is the pale candles behind the Satureja in the picture below.

The second picture shows it closer up: those candles are over a foot long! Love this thing!

Mikkelsen's picture

Mikkelsen (not verified)

Wed, 10/12/2011 - 6:36am

I've grown Petrophytum caespitosum (Rock spirea) for four years in a half whiskey barrel. It's not demanding, however to get it to "crawl" it needs to be on the slightest slope on sandstone (preferred, since it crawls faster) or a limestone.

Here, in Utah, there are areas in some west desert cliffs where it grows in huge sheets that easily measure 6' wide x 10' long, welded to the cliffs. Surely worth growing!

DesertZone's picture

DesertZone (not verified)

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 9:23pm

I bet they are awesome.  Utah has some cool plants. :) 
 
I got mine from seed or a very small plant, but there was some very old plants in the area.  Looks like prehistoric moss growing over rocks, love it.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 1:12pm
Mikkelsen wrote:

I've grown Petrophytum caespitosum (Rock spirea) for four years in a half whiskey barrel. It's not demanding, however to get it to "crawl" it needs to be on the slightest slope on sandstone (preferred, since it crawls faster) or a limestone.

Here, in Utah, there are areas in some west desert cliffs where it grows in huge sheets that easily measure 6' wide x 10' long, welded to the cliffs. Surely worth growing!

You mean it can do with some Scotch whisky instead ;)