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Brassicaceae FAMILY

Arabis caucasica

Arabis caucasica

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial
GrowthMedium

Plants are hardy to about -15°c[1]. Grows best in a sunny position, requiring a well-drained soil[2]. Easily grown in ordinary well-drained soil[3]. Prefers a poor soil[1]. Succeeds in partial shade[4] though it tends to become straggly[5]. Established plants are very tolerant of drought and grow very well on a dry bank[6], they also succeed when grown in walls[7, PFAF]. A very ornamental plant, though it can become rather invasive[8]. There are some named varieties selected for their ornamental value[1]. A good butterfly and moth plant[9]. Bees are attracted to the flowers. Plants resent root disturbance and are best put in their final positions whilst still small[4]. This species is closely related to Arabis alpina[8].

Propagation

Seed - it is best to surface sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in a light position in a cold frame[4]. Seed can also be sown in spring. It usually germinates in 2 - 3 weeks at 21°c[4]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer. Division after flowering[10]. Very easy, the divisions can be planted out straight into their permanent positions if required. Cuttings in a shady border in summer[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Arabis+caucasica>

Pollinators

Bees, Lepidoptera

References

  1. [1]Perennials. Volumes 1 and 2. — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1991 · ISBN 0-330-30936-9 ↩︎Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
  2. [2]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  5. [5]Ground Cover Plants. — Royal Horticultural Society. · Cassells. · 1989 · ISBN 0-304-31089-1 ↩︎A handy little booklet from the R.H.S.
  6. [6]The Dry Garden. — Chatto. B. · Dent · 1982 · ISBN 0460045512 ↩︎A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.
  7. [7]Gardening on Walls — Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. · Collins · 1983 · ISBN 0-00-219220-0 ↩︎A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
  8. [8]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  9. [9]Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. — Carter D. · Pan · 1982 · ISBN 0-330-26642-x ↩︎An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.
  10. [10]Popular Hardy Perennials. — Sanders. T. W. · Collingridge · 1926 · ISBN - ↩︎A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.
  11. [11]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  12. [12]Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1980 · ISBN 0-19-217626-9 ↩︎A good pocket flora, it also lists quite a few plant uses.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎