Aubrieta 'Doctor Mules'

RHS Plant Profile
aubrieta 'Doctor Mules'

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aubrieta 'Doctor Mules' RHS

RHS Recommended

Award of Garden Merit Plants for pollinators
Alpine Rockery

A trailing perennial to 10cm tall, forming a wide mat of small, soft green leaves. Single, rich violet-blue flowers up to 2.5cm wide appear in spring

Position

Full sun

Soil Types

Chalk, Loam, Sand

Max Height

Up to 10 cm

Max Spread

0.1-0.5 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
2–5 years
Max Spread
0.1-0.5 metres
Max Height
Up to 10 cm

Growing Conditions

Chalk Loam Sand
Moisture
Well–drained
pH
Alkaline or Neutral

Position

Full sun
Aspect
South–facing
Exposure
Exposed or Sheltered
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

  • H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
  • H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
  • H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
  • H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
  • H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
  • H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
  • H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
  • H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
  • H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)
H6

RHS Recommended: for People & Planet

RHS Recommended Plants for People & Planet

For Water Resilience

Plants for Flood Resilience

Plants that can help manage heavy rain by catching rainfall, slowing surface run-off, encouraging water into the soil or taking it up through their roots, contributing to flood resilient gardens.

Plants for both Wet and Dry Conditions

Plants that cope with changing soil moisture, including wet winters and extended summer dry. Once established, they grow as wet and dry conditions alternate.

For Temperature Resilience

Plants for Temperature Cooling

Plants that cool air temperature by providing shade, transpiration, or reflection to reduce heat impact on people, animals, soil or other ground surface.

Plants for Wind Shelter

Plants with dense canopies often grown as a tall thick hedge or grouping can block wind and shelter gardens, buildings and people.

For Carbon Storage

Plants for Carbon Storage

Plants that can take up carbon (CO₂) through photosynthesis and store it within the plant or deposit it by their roots into the soil.

For Biodiversity

Plants for Pollinators

Plants that have flowering properties (pollen and/or nectar) that are particularly beneficial for pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies.

Growing conditions for maximum benefit

This plant will provide the maximum benefits if it is healthy and allowed to grow to maturity

For Bio-Diversity

  • Plants for Pollinators

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Brassicaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Evergreen
Habit
Trailing
Genus
Aubrieta are mat-forming evergreen perennials with small leaves and short racemes of 4-petalled flowers in shades of pink and purple in spring
Name Status
Accepted

How to Grow

Cultivation

Best grown in well-drained soil in full sun, an ideal plant for dry areas such as chalky slopes and on walls, but it can tolerate partial shade. Being hardy it is a useful container plant for spring colour

Propagation

Propagate by softwood cuttings or semi-hardwood cuttings. Species can be propagated by seed sown in containers in a cold frame in autumn or spring

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Coastal
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Patio and container plants
  • Rock garden
  • Garden edging
  • Banks and slopes
  • Ground cover

Pruning

Cut back after flowering to maintain compactness

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids and flea beetles

Diseases

May be infected by white blister