Peter Dowdall: How to ensure your alpine plants thrive 

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

Little beauties such as this purple-flowering aubrieta can establish in the most hospitable-looking of places and soften everything from stone walls to cracks in footpaths. Picture: iStock

Have you noticed them popping up everywhere? Even the smallest crack in a wall or footpath is enough for them to grasp on to, to stay alive, turning the world purple. I’m talking about aubrietas, campanulas and other little alpine plants which are all opening up into full bloom at the moment. 

It can take a bit of work to replicate what happens in nature with gay abandon, that is getting these little beauties to establish in cracks and crevices. The thing we must remember when attempting this is how it happens naturally.