We’ve tried many times to grow the common rock garden perennial, Cerastium tomentosum, commonly known as Snow in Summer. Its origin in the European Alps, has not exactly been a climate match for our hot, humid summers. A few years ago, we were excited to obtain seed from a Balkan native cerastium from Greek plantsman, Leftherios Dariotis. As we hoped, it has thrived in our summers, planted in a dry, unirrigated berm among agaves. This particular seed collection is from Smokovo, Greece. Below is our plant this year in early January.
In early April (NC), the plant puts on quite a show of white, as you can see below. We’ve given the clonal name, Cerastium ‘Moonshine’ to our best form, and have started propagating it for the 2026 PDN catalog.
What are it’s light requirements?
Full sun.