Silene uniflora 'Flore Pleno'

Silene uniflora 'Flore Pleno' — Horticultural selection with double flowers of the perennial from the Caryophyllaceae family.

The type species is native to the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Western Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles and Scandinavia, where it colonizes maritime cliffs, sands, and coastal rocks, at the edge of sea spray. It forms low and spreading clumps, rarely exceeding 15 cm in height, with glaucous, fleshy, and persistent foliage, of a characteristic blue-green.

In this double form, the flowers are spectacularly transformed into very dense white pom-poms, with deeply fringed and multiplied petals, borne on short stems. The flower buds streaked with pink-purple, clearly visible in the photo, contrast nicely with the whiteness of the open flowers. In its natural habitat, the flowering of the type species extends from May to August; in cultivation, this selection generally blooms from May to July.

It requires a very well-drained, poor soil, in full sun, and perfectly tolerates windy exposure. It dreads excess winter moisture. Excellent for rock gardens, walls, and alpine troughs.