Cerastium NINA

Snow-in-summer – a perennial plant from the carnation family that grows quickly and blooms for a long time, creating the effect of a snowy carpet from silvery leaves and delicate white flowers. It is perfect for alpine hills, rockeries, framing flower beds, and filling gaps between paving stones on paths due to its high frost and drought resistance. The plant does not require complex care: regular watering and soil loosening, as well as moderate fertilization – 5–7 kg of organic matter per square meter will help enhance growth and flowering.

Snow-in-summer is characterized by low demands for soil fertility and mechanical composition, but does not tolerate waterlogging, especially in the winter period. The best conditions for its growth are light or sandy-loam soils, processing depth of 15–17 cm, planting distance 25–30 cm. Reproduction is carried out by cuttings and bush division; cuttings root in semi-shade or greenhouse in spring before flowering or after it.

Among the varieties, the most popular are woolly snow-in-summer (C. tomentosum) 10–15 cm high, creating a dense silvery-white carpet, and Bieberstein's snow-in-summer (S. biebersteinii), which forms creeping shoots up to 20 cm in height. Both varieties combine well with other plants, do not compete for space, and withstand multiple trimming, which allows for repeated flowering. Thanks to its unpretentiousness and attractiveness, snow-in-summer is a desired guest of any alpine garden and an ideal ground cover plant under shrubs and trees.