Candytuft
Iberis sempervirens. BRASSICACEAE (CRUCIFERAE).
Planting and Growing Candytuft
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow candytuft in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of candytuft
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for candytuft
- Season of bloom and planting time for candytuft
- When, how deep, and where to plant candytuft
- How to plant candytuft
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of candytuft
- Landscape and container uses of candytuft
- Comments about candytuft and its features
Growing Candytuft
Many cultivars of compact, low, spreading or shrublike, deciduous perennial herbs, 8–12 in. (20–30 cm) tall, 16–36 in. (40–90 cm) wide. Shiny, deep green, narrow, oval, pointed leaves, to 1-1/2-in. (38-mm) long.
Common cultivars include Iberis sempervirens ‘Kingwood’, ‘Nana’, ‘Pure Snow’, and ‘Superba’, each with varied habits and flower forms.
See also Globe Candytuft, Iberia umbellata, a closely related annual species.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, white, 4-petaled flowers, to 5/8-in. (16-mm) wide, in round or flat clusters, to 4 in. (10 cm) wide, in early spring–summer.
Iberis sempervirens ‘Autumn Snow’ reblooms in autumn.
Best Climates
Hardy. Zones 3–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained humus. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–7.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full to filtered sun, 6–12 in. (15–30 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Very easy. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize monthly. Deadhead, pinch to promote new buds, keep plants compact. Propagate by cuttings, division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, borders, containers, edgings in cottage, formal, rock gardens. Good for cutting. Heirloom flowering plant. Disease resistant. Slug, snail susceptible.