Plants for crevices

Hi, I have an old wall, about 4ft high which I would love to see adorned with trailing colour! Any suggestions on the right sort of plants for this..I'm thinking of the purple, yellow and white ones you see an awful lot of, is that aubretia??? memories gone...... Any tips on how to actually plant these in the small crevices? Unfortunately the wall is open to strong winds too, full on, so something else to consider.
Thanks in advance.

 

Aubrieta comes in almost all colours. Campanulas are blue and white. Alyssum saxatile is the yellow one. Iberis sempervirens is the white one. Those are the 'common' (because they are easy and survive!) plants used for walls. You could also try Lewisia cotyledon, they love a vertical crevice and do not mind the wind, as it dries off any moisture which may land on the leaves.
Planting is a bit more difficult. The recommended method is to buy small plants (I suppose these days 'plug plant' size). OR to take and root cutings, dead easy for all but the Lewisia, and use them. Find a hole of the correct size for the soil and gently push the plant in. Those plants which can be grown from seed, are done much the same way. Push a seed into a plug of soil and gently push all of it into a crack in the wall.
Some of the Phlox subulata/douglassii hybrids will grow in a wall too.
As long as you are not too far north there are plenty of really good Alpine nurseries available to you. Look at the Scotting Rock Garden Society site for a list.

 

Saw this yesterday,it looked gorgeous in the sunshine.

 

That is lovely, roders ... a nice cheery start to the day!

 

Stunning..

 

Thats just what I want roders! It's super!

Thanks for all that info palustris....I will look up the alpine nurseries. I'm about 25 miles from John o Groats, so that is pretty north!

 

I like Sedum acre but it is not as showy as that picture :eek: It sometimes takes a bit of experimenting with what works well for your wall but it is worth it.