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Photo by Little Prince of Oregon

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Buy Saxifraga stolonifera

Also Known As

Mother of Thousands
Strawberry Begonia
Strawberry Geranium

Plant type

perennial, groundcover

size

H: 1"-16"
W: 6"-24"

planting zones

5a-10b

3 inch pot | $12

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Fewer than 20 at Secret Garden Growers

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Saxifraga stolonifera plant details

Saxifraga stolonifera is a broadleaf evergreen perennial groundcover with burgundy, green and white foliage. In spring white flowers emerge. Attracts bees making it an excellent addition to pollinator gardens. Grows well with mostly sun - shade and even moisture - regular water. Does well in average, rich and well-drained soil. A good option if you're seeking something heat tolerant and humidity tolerant.

CHARACTERISTICS OF Saxifraga stolonifera

Plant type: perennial groundcover
Plant family: saxifragaceae
Foliage: evergreen burgundy, green and white
Mature size: 6 IN - 24 IN - wide, 1 IN - 16 IN - tall
Flowers: white blooms in spring
Uses: cascading, container plant, heirloom, rock garden, running, serrated leaves, spreading, woodland garden, year round interest

GROWING CONDITIONS for Saxifraga stolonifera

USDA Zones: 5a - 10b
Sun exposure: mostly sun - shade
Watering frequency: even moisture - regular
Resistant to: deer and rabbit, heat and humidity
Soil needs: average, rich and well-drained

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Nursery contributed plant descriptions

Perennial groundcover that can also be grown indoors in tropical conditions. Orbicular, fuzzy leaves with serrated eldges. Silvery vein streaks. Maroon underside. White flowers resembling rabbit head appears in late spring/early summer. If grown in pots, pups will grow out on thin vines and cascade down.

By: The Other Side Nursery

Dainty tufts of rounded, hairy leaves produce airy clusters of tiny white flowers and showy rosy-red runners ending in tiny new plantlets. It gets its common name of Strawberry Begonia since those runners have the same habit as strawberry plants. Can easily be grown indoors or out. This is a beautiful and satisfying creeper from the shaded rocky cliffs of Japan and China. PSh-Sh/M

By: Forestfarm

(Mother of Thousands) A very old heirloom and garden worthy plant – Grandma grew this in shaded corners, where it made delicate spreading carpets that trailed over rocks and dripped from old pots – likes good soil, moisture – kids love to watch it’s strawberry like habit as it tosses babies out on strands around it – never a pest! USDA Zone 6 3” pot

By: Secret Garden Growers

Zn 6. Rosette forming evergreen. White flowers

By: Little Prince of Oregon

Classic pass along houseplant that is actually hardy outside

By: Cistus Nursery

Neither a strawberry nor a geranium, this Saxifraga does look a bit like a combination of the two, and is, in any case, very attractive: mat-forming rounded leathery evergreen leaves with silver veins and pink-red backsides; 18" tall stems with asymmetrically-"winged" white flowers in a flurry. Really nice in a pot - a perennial conversation piece, as I said, very attractive. Minimum temperature: -10?F

By: Dancing Oaks Nursery

This old-fashioned houseplant -- also called "Mother of Thousands" -- is actually a good hardy groundcover for shade to part sun. Evergreen, fuzzy green foliage has maroon and light green to silver highlights. Long strawberry-like runners produce baby plants. Panicles of airy, white, bilaterally symmetrical flowers look like dancing ladies that float above the plant in late spring or summer.

By: Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd.

Saxifraga stolonifera produces long slender runners with plantlets...stems of delicate white flowers .. beautiful leaves

By: Accents for Home and Garden

This plant has rounded olive green leaves with silver-gray veins. The flowers are white panicles in the spring. Admittedly rapid spreading but not that difficult to maintain. 6" tall and spreading.

By: Fantastic Plants

A durable ground cover with large green and silver foliage on a low begonia like plant. Produces airy spikes of white flowers in summer. Needs good drainage in a humus-rich soil.

By: Almost Eden

Evergreen prostrate perennial with runners. 6" tall with an indefinite spread. Large, rounded shallowly lobed leaves, hairy, silver-veined and olive green above, reddish purple below. Loose panicles of tiny, mothlike, white flowers, each with 4 equal sized petals and one elongated petal, appear in summer on slender, upright stems. Zones 6-8.