Lewisias
Lewisia spp.
Special Features
Form basal rosettes of fleshy lance-shaped leaves varying from green to reddish-purple. Flowers grow on stems rising above the foliage in white, pink, red, orange to yellow with contrasting veins. Commonly grown in rock gardens.
Plant Specifications
Our team will help you integrate this plant into your landscape design
Growing Lewisias on Martha's Vineyard
Lewisia cotyledon, the cliff maids, are spectacular rock garden perennials that thrive in the perfectly drained, gritty, lean soils of Martha's Vineyard's stone terrace plantings and rock garden features, producing brilliant multicolored flowers in shades of pink, orange, yellow, and white from late spring through early summer in a display of remarkable intensity relative to the plant's modest size. The critical cultural requirement is excellent drainage, particularly around the crown, which is highly susceptible to rot in the wet shoulder seasons common to the island's maritime climate. Siting in elevated rock features, stone retaining wall faces, and gravel-topped terrace plantings provides the drainage conditions that allow lewisias to thrive long-term.
Deer resistance is reliable. Estate Care professionals treat lewisia as a specialty rock garden accent, maintaining the sharp drainage conditions at planting with coarse gravel incorporated into the root zone and sited specifically in positions where the crown remains dry during periods of extended wet weather.
