sea thrift // sea pink

order: caryophyllales
family: plumbaginaceae
genus: armeria
species: maritima
cultivar: armada

In german language sea thrift is referred to as 'Grasnelke' which is translated as 'grass carnation'. I wanted to know how much they are really related to carnations (dianthus), therefore I dived into a brief research. The result is somewhat expected. Their relatedness is only down to the order level (caryophyllales). While sea thrift belongs to the family plumbaginaceae (leadwort family or plumbago family), carnation belongs to caryophyllaceae (pink family or carnation family).

Their blade-like leaves are sometimes difficult to distinguish among grass. The best advice I can give is to plant it in a scree bed, making sure that grass doesn't grow close to it. Grass can be a nuisance, as it usually grows taller than sea thrift and messes up your sea thrift carpet. Don't give the grass any chance like I did. Make sure to lay a scree bed correctly once and for all. Otherwise it will be really time consuming in amending.

If done correctly the plant needs little maintenance. The carpet of my plant expanded as much as three times since I planted it 3 years ago in early spring 2012.