About this cultivar:

Iberis sempervirens ‘Snowflake’ is a compact evergreen sub-shrub with narrow, dark green leaves and short racemes of small white flowers in late spring and early summer. Sempervirens means ‘always green’, referring to the evergreen foliage. I think it should be ‘always great’.

The RHS gave this cultivar an Award of Garden Merit. Makes a great filler for crevices in walls or between the stones of walkways. It is also effective as edging or groundcover.

• Position: Full sun, partial shade
• Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert
• Flowers: May, June, July
• Other features: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM), Grows well in Ballyrobert, Great Ground Cover
• Hardiness: H5 – Hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10C), Fully hardy – grows well in Ballyrobert!
• Habit: Mat forming, trailing
• Foliage: Evergreen
• Height: 15 – 25 cm (0.5 – 0.8 ft)
• Spread: 15 – 45 cm (0.5 – 1.5 ft)
• Time to full growth: 5 to 10 years
• Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
• Colour: Green, white
• Goes well with: –

About this genus:

Iberis (I-ber-is) gets its name from Iberia, the ancient name for what we called the PIGS when I worked on Wall Street- Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. Commonly called candytuft, it is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the cabbage family (Brassicaceae). It comprises annuals, evergreen perennials and subshrubs native to the Old World – we only grow and sell the evergeen perennial, Iberis sempervirens. The name “candytuft” is not related to candy, but derives from Candia, the former name of Iraklion on the Island of Crete. So don’t eat it!

Iberis are often though of as rock plants that need a bit of dryness, however the cultivars we sell grow perfectly fine in our garden at Ballyrobert where it is wet heavy clay. Just don’t put them anywhere too extreme – they don’t like the wet very much. We plant ours at the front of borders, on a wall and beside a path. They can also be used as groundcover. I think they have a nice woodland feel even though they like full sun!