Saponaria ocymoides

Saponaria is a superb flowering, pretty little plant that makes a low carpet for ground cover or for rock features. The plants form a mound of bright-green leaves, smothered by starry bright-pink clusters of flowers in late spring.

Use as a ground cover in pockets in paving, as an edging in the sunny border or allow it to trail over the sides of raised beds and low walls for continuous summer colour. It is also worth considering for containers and for green roofs.
In the rock garden it will spill down sunny slopes and flow around rocks, helping to blend them into the landscape. It makes a great nursery plant for areas where other, slower growing plants are to be grown, preventing weeds while new plants are establishing.

Saponaria can be used to overplant spring bulbs and is one of the easiest ground covers. Hardy to about -15°C (5°F), it is drought tolerant once established.

• Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit
  Saponaria ocymoides has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Sowing: Sow in spring or autumn.
Seed can be sown at most times of year, apart from the very hottest and coldest months. The ideal temperatures are around 15 to 20°C (59 to 68°F). They are best sown early, from November to March in gentle heat; the plant will be fully established before the following winter. They can be sown in June to July if placed out of direct sun. Germination usually takes 14 to 30 days. Sowing to Germination: 4 to 8 weeks. Germination to Transplant: 4 to 6 weeks

Fill cells or pots with a free draining seed compost, stand the containers in water to moisten thoroughly, then drain. Sow the seeds on the surface of the compost. The seeds need light to germinate so ‘Just cover’ with the lightest sprinkling of sieved soil or a fine layer of vermiculite.
Make sure the compost is moist and not wet. Use a propagator or seal in a polythene bag until after germination which usually takes 14 to 30 days at 15 to 20°C (59 to 68°F).
Saponaria usually germinate within 30 days, but if there is no germination, put the container somewhere cold, at around -4 to 4°C ( 24 to 39°F) for 2 to 4 weeks. Then bring back into warmth, the change in temperature will trigger germination.

Remove the polythene bag once the first seedlings appear. When they are large enough to handle, transplant them to 7cm (3in) pots to grow on. Remember to hold the seedlings by the leaves and not the stem. Plant out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Space 40 cm (16in) apart into a well drained garden soil in full sun.

Cultivation:
Saponaria prefers full sun. Winter survival is dependent on the plant growing in well-drained soil. Do not fertilize during growing season. Bone meal worked into surrounding soil in early spring is all they need.
Cut plants back by about half after they are finished blooming to maintain a compact habit. This may also provide the added benefit of sporadic repeat bloom in late summer.
It readily reseeds itself and will spread rapidly in a favourable situation. Prompt shearing as the flowers fade keeps it tidy and prevents reseeding.
Clumps may be easily divided in late summer or early spring.

Plant Uses:
Suitable for rockeries, ground cover, walls, borders, edging paths, walls and containers.
Low Maintenance, Gravel Gardens. Attractive to bees and butterflies. Evergreen.

Origin:
Saponaria is a genus of about 20 species of perennial herbs in the Caryophyllaceae, native to the Mountains of southern Europe (Spain, South France, Italy and Alps) and southwest Asia. The genus is closely related to Lychnis and Silene, being distinguished from these by having only two (not three or five) styles in the flower.
The plant is vespertine, which is a term used in the life sciences to indicate something of, relating to, or occurring in the evening. In botany, a vespertine flower is one which opens or blooms in the evening. The flowers smell like cloves.

Nomenclature:
The genus name Saponaria is derived from the Latin sapo, meaning 'soap', which, like its common name Soapwort, refers to its utility in cleaning; the species plant Saponaria officinalis, a larger, more upright plant was used to make soap.
From this same Latin word is derived the name of the toxic substance saponin, contained in the roots.
The species name ocymoides means ‘looks like basil’. The genus name for basil is Ocimum, which comes from the ancient Greek name okimon.
There are inumerable common names relating to the plants use as a soap, such as Bouncing Bet, Fuller's-herb, Lady's-washbowl, Latherwort, Sheepweed and Old-maid's-pink.
There are many other local, country names such as Sweet Betty, Mock Gilliflower, Wild Sweet William. It is also known as Hedge Pink, it can be found beside streams and in damp woods and hedgerows.

Historical Uses:
The crushed leaves or roots of Saponaria officinalis have been used for washing people and clothes for centuries.
They were used to wash the Turin Shroud, which probably helped in its preservation because soapwort contains a fungicide. It is still used today in cleaning old fabrics. Museum conservators still use soapwort extracts for cleaning fragile, priceless fabrics not able to withstand modern soaps and are reported to have been used to clean the Bayeaux tapestry.
In some places Farmers washed their sheep with soapwort prior to shearing and newly-woven cloth was washed to thicken it, where it gets its associated name Fuller’s Herb from the process called fulling. Soapwort was originally grown near woolen mills, so that it was on hand for washing wool. Unlike modern detergents which strip the lanolin from the fleece, washing with soapwort retains some natural lanolin on the wool, helping to make the wool more water repellent.
Soapwort would also have been used in the local public laundries. The common name ‘Bouncing Bet’ was an old fashioned name for a washer woman, but there doesn't seem to be any real truth to the story that if you see soapwort growing it indicates there was once a laundry or a fulling mill close by. Whilst it would have been encouraged to grow near these facilities, it would also grow and spread in any undisturbed place. In Ireland it can still be found growing in many old cottage gardens.

Plants have also been found near the sites of old Roman baths. The Romans also used it as an ointment to treat skin diseases. It was used in the Middle Ages to treat venereal disease and was also sniffed to induce sneezing, sneezing was believed to ease illness. A decoction of the plant can be applied externally to treat itchy skin, eczema, psoriasis, acne and boils. Gypsies would apply a decoction of root to a bruised or black eye to remove coloration.
Roots have been used to knock out fish to make them easy to catch – for this reason it may be a good idea not to grow Soapwort close to fish ponds, its creeping rhizomes excrete a poison in wet soil that is harmful to fish.

Soapwort is not recommended for internal use as saponins can be toxic. An overdose can cause nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. Despite its toxic potential, soapwort finds culinary use as an emulsifier in the commercial preparation of halve (a sweet made using tahini and sugar or honey) and in brewing to create beer with a good head. In India, the rhizome is used as a galactagogue.