Alpine Garden Society

Ulster Group

Plant of the Month, March 2009
Morisia monanthos ‘Fred Hemingway’ - by Kay and Sam McDowell
 Morisia monanthos - Cruciferae. (The name is commemorative of professor Moris of Turin).          
A monotypic genus that comes from Corsica and Sardinia where it grows in sandy conditions at sea level. It has attractive, dark, glossy-green saw-toothed leaves and bright yellow flowers, which appear from March-July. Suited to a trough, scree, or raised bed in full sun, in a well drained, sandy, but not too rich a soil. Morisia has a long tap-root, and is not a long lived plant in cultivation, and is best increased by root cuttings.  
My specimen is overwintered in a cool greenhouse and moved to an alpine frame for the summer to minimise soaking from the Limavady rain.  To date it has not set seed.  

(However it has won a 'First' at the Show ! - Ed.)