One of the greatest of conundrums in the gardening world is how something as small and delicate as an alpine plant, with its fragile flowers often in pastels and girly pinks…can also be as tough as old boots? Well, it’s an easy question to answer actually!
Most naturally occurring alpines are small because they have to resist the ferocious winds and intense cold that one normally encounters up a mountain. Remember, the bigger the leaves a plant has, the greater their exposure to the elements. Most little alpine plants can hug rocks and mould themselves into crevices, which offer protection.
And alpines usually produce brightly coloured flowers; this is because when growing in high places they are often hidden from view, and in order to attract the all-important insect pollinators they need
