Saxifraga x urbium Aureopunctata

Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata', often nicknamed "painter's despair," produces ramified and cloudy inflorescences in spring, animated by the slightest breath of wind, resembling a rain of white-pink stars powdered with red. They dominate persistent succulent rosettes, which display a beautiful variegated pattern in dark green stained with yellow across the entire leaf. This ground-cover perennial can keep adventives in check. It is a marvel for rockeries and borders. This saxifrage loves crevices and spaces between slabs, provided it finds moist soil there.

Saxifraga x urbium is a hybrid between S. spathularis, widespread in Portugal, Ireland, and Spain, and S. umbrosa, the true 'painter's despair,' a Pyrenean species. It belongs to the Saxifragaceae family. This small perennial's adult size does not exceed 30cm (12in) in height when flowering. It forms thick-leaved rosettes that make up a mat, slowly spreading over time through stolons anchored in rock crevices and between stones, in the slightest pocket of humus. The foliage of Saxifraga 'Aureopunctata' consists of long, thick, petiolate, shiny, spoon-shaped leaves with highly serrated edges. They are variegated in a beautiful pattern of dark green and yellow. The flowering takes place in May-June, in the form of bare and ramified purple stems emerging from the rosettes, bearing small single white to pink flowers delicately powdered with red.

This 'painters' despair' can be used to delineate paths and borders, but it can also be used for larger spaces. It will thrive very well on shady banks where grass is scarce. It can also replace moss that invades a shaded end of the lawn by digging up that area and planting a carpet of saxifrage. For the same reason, this plant will serve as a ground cover between bushes and trees. It adapts without the slightest difficulty to the poorest sandy soil or shady locations. It is a vital asset in the most disadvantaged areas of the garden, such as in the shade or in the north. Use saxifrage to conceal a portion of soil where stones or construction waste have been buried. It also works well in a large container, for example.

These plants often grow in the crevices of rocks. It has long been believed that this plant may have medicinal properties and can eliminate kidney stones. Within the rock garden family, the genus Saxifraga is a special category with more than 450 species. Saxifrages can reach the highest peaks of the highest mountains. In these inhospitable places, nature has created magicians of survival.