This excellent group of rock garden plants is known as the section Ligulatae, or more commonly as the silver or encrusted saxifrages, in recognition of the deposits of lime that line the leaves. They all have rosettes, large or small depending on the variety, and have relatively large panicles of flowers, usually white. They come from rocky places in the mountains, some on limestone and some on acid rocks.

Saxifraga 'Starfire' is another fine hybrid saxifrage grown by Matthew Ruane at Brynhyfryd. This one is very unusual, as it has bright pink flowers rather than white, borne on stems that are quite a lot shorter than those of his other vigorous hybrids, such as 'Nicholas' and 'Anneka Hope'. The flowers also come two or three weeks later than most of the others, although they all remain in flower for a month or more.