Saxifraga stolonifera 'Maroon Beauty'

Creeping Saxifrage Saxifragaceae

A particularly handsome form of the strawberry saxifrage, with rounded, velvety leaves in dark olive-green to maroon, elegantly traced with silvery veins and often flushed wine-red beneath. The real trick, however, is performed underground—or rather just above it—for slender reddish stolons wander away from the parent, rooting as they go and gradually making a handsome colony. In summer, airy branching stems carry clouds of delicate white flowers, often flushed pink. A superb plant for cool shade, woodland edges and containers, and considerably less demanding than its exotic appearance suggests. Give it moisture, but not a bog; it dislikes sitting wet. In other words, it likes a drink but not a bath.

● Origin: Cultivar of Saxifraga stolonifera, a species native to China, Japan and neighbouring East Asian regions.

● Breeder/selection: No breeder has been identified in the published nursery and horticultural sources located so far. The strongest available trail points to the American gardeners Ruth and Whitney Gorham, who grew and distributed the plant, but the surviving evidence does not establish that they bred it or made the original selection. 

● Foliage: Evergreen to semi-evergreen, rounded and scalloped, with silver-pewter venation, fine hairs and conspicuous maroon colouring, particularly beneath the leaves. 

● Flowers: Small, starry white flowers, lightly flushed pink, held on delicate branched stems well above the foliage.

● Flowering: June–August, often extending into early autumn under good conditions. 

● Cultivation: Best in humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil in partial or full shade. Excellent beneath shrubs and trees, in woodland plantings, rock gardens and containers. 

● Propagation: Exceptionally easy from the plantlets produced on its numerous stolons—nature has thoughtfully provided the propagation department with runners.

● Hardiness: H5, approximately –15 to –10°C in UK conditions; provide a sheltered position and avoid winter waterlogging. 

● Height: 15–30 cm, including flowering stems.

● Spread: 40–60 cm, eventually forming a spreading mat.

A splendid foliage plant for shade, with flowers as an added bonus—and stolons that clearly have places to go and people to meet.