How to Grow and Care for Rockcresses

A member of the mustard family, alpine rockcress is a flowering perennial native to Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. It grows well in full sun and poor, sandy soils. It is often used as groundcover in flowerbeds.

Hairy rockcress (Arabis hirsuta) is a European flowering plant that grows up to 60 cm tall. Its large primary leaves form a rosette at the base while leaves on the stem stay small. As the name suggests, the plant sprouts hairlike structures all over. It tends to be found along rock walls, ledges, and dunes.

Coast rock cress (*Arabis blepharophylla*) is a perennial herb that is endemic to California in the U.S. It produces bright purple flowers relatively early in the year between winter and spring. Arabis blepharophylla is an important host for many butterfly species including the marble gray, the spring white, and the Pacific orang-tip butterflies.

Annual rockcress is a herb that prefers alkaline, dry habitats. Since it's highly desirable to bees, butterflies, and birds, this plant would make a great addition to a wildlife garden. It's an annual plant that typically grows on rocks, hence its common name Annual rockcress.

It is an annual plant with erect and hairy stems. The leaves have the margin with some sharp teeth, the lower ones are petiolate, they form a basal rosette, while the rest are auriculated and sit on the stem. The flowers are arranged in clusters, have white petals with a shallow notch at the apex. It develops erect fruits with the peduncle of 1 to 5 mm in length.