Cushion Plant

The little narrow leaves crowd together to form a gorgeous, creeping cushion of foliage. This is such a fabulously tactile plant with beautiful green colouration. This native is an excellent choice for fairy gardens, alpine gardens, rockeries, containers or edging.

Spring to summer it is covered in tiny white flowers.

Grow in full sun to semi shade, protect from hot afternoon sun. Water to establish (plants will take around four weeks for their roots to penetrate the surrounding soils), then keep moist in dry weather. If it is wet in winter it tends to rot. Sometimes beauty doesn’t come easily so conversely it doesn’t like to dry out too much so ensure your soil has good drainage and you have adequate rainfall or don’t mind watering when the weather is dry. It isn’t a fan of humidity so best grown in Cool to Temperate areas.

Common names for Scleranthus uniflorus include Knawel, Knawel Cushion, Cushion Plant, NZ Moss, Tight Cushion Plant and Twin Flowered Knawel. Sclearanthus is derived from Greek for hard to flower. It is in the Caryophyllaceae family, as are Pinks/Dianthus.