PlantFiles: Spreading Rock Cress
Arabis procurrens 'Variegata'

I have had this plant for approximately five years now. It is a very low-growing and slow-growing plant. I bought it in a 4" pot that was not well filled and the spread today is to approximately one foot in width.

This plant could be used as a groundcover or placed in a rock garden.

Its leaves are a medium shade of green but has large white margins for such tiny leaves. It always looks so clean looking. The flowers are not what this plant is grown for, it is the leaves. Flowers are tiny and white and stand a short distance above the plant itself on thin stems.

This is a perfect plant for a beginning gardener as it is tolerant of everything and is a real survivor. Although this plant is supposed to be placed in full sun, mine gets a bit of sun in the afternoon as it passes between two very large trees and again in the evening when the sun moves past the cedar trees beside our driveway for the short period of time until it reaches the house next door.

It does get watered as often as the other plants in my garden beds but I have yet to give it any fertilizer. As far as I can tell it has never been bothered by any insects or plant diseases either. What more could anyone ask for in a plant?