Helianthemum × hybridum
Rock rose (Helianthemum × hybridum) is a ground cover plant that reaches 25 cm × 60 cm after ten years. Light: full sun. Hardy down to -29 °C. Drought tolerance: high. Sold in local shops from about CZK 62.
Hybrid rock roses are low, spreading evergreen subshrubs with grey-green or silvery foliage that cover themselves from late May to midsummer in white, yellow, orange, red or pink flowers like tiny wild roses. Each flower lasts just one day, but there are so many buds that the cushion stays colourful for weeks. They want baking sun and dry, lean soil, happily limy and stony: rock gardens, wall tops and banks; in heavy, winter-wet ground they rot. Trim back by about half after flowering or the middle opens up and goes bare. Cultivars differ mainly in flower colour and foliage: some are green-leaved and some silver-grey, and the latter stay decorative after flowering too.
| Group | Ground cover |
| Light | Full sun |
| Size after 10 years | 25 cm × 60 cm |
| Ultimate size | 10–30 cm × 30–90 cm |
| Hardiness | down to -29 °C (USDA 4, RHS H7) |
| Soil | Average garden soil, Sandy, Calcareous |
| Foliage | Evergreen |
| Flowering | May–July, white, yellow, orange, red, pink |
| Water need | Low |
| Drought tolerance | High |
| Maintenance | Low |
| Root aggressiveness | Low |
| Suckering | no |
| Spreading | Low |
| Distance from buildings | no data |
| Distance from paving | no data |
| Litter | not typical |
| Planting distance | 40 cm |
| For dogs | no data |
| For cats | no data |
| For children | no data |
| Typical price | from about CZK 62 |
Toxicity data is for information only. If your pet or child has eaten a plant, contact a vet or a doctor.
The same plant is sold as a small pot and as a specimen several metres tall, and the price follows. Prices are rounded and for guidance only.
|
Size
|
Typical price
|
|---|---|
| size not stated | approx. CZK 62 – CZK 83 |
Data updated: October 17, 2026 · How our data is made
Ground cover plants against weeds: which goes where, and how many you need
A ground cover keeps weeds out once it has closed up: until then, usually for two or three summers, it needs mulch and weeding. Under trees and in shade, lesser periwinkle, bigroot geranium, barrenwort and barren strawberry do best; in sunny, dry places stonecrops, thymes and creeping junipers. Most perennial ground covers take 9-18 plants per square metre. The tables work out what a square metre costs at today's shop prices in your country.
Building a rock garden: stone, soil and plants step by step
A rock garden belongs on a sunny, gentle slope, in lean, free-draining soil: one third garden soil, one third coarse sand, one third crushed stone. Lay the stones, all of one kind, in layers leaning the same way and sunk a third to a half into the ground, so that about two fifths of the surface is stone. Four to six plants per square metre are enough: creeping junipers and grasses make the frame, and between them cushion perennials, stonecrops and thymes flower from March to October.
Lavandula angustifolia
Armeria maritima
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Besides the cookies the site needs to work, we would like to use analytics and advertising cookies (Google, Facebook), if you allow it. Details