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Polemonium confertum
Also called Skunk Jacob's Ladder, Skunk Polemonium, Sticky Jacob's Ladder, Sticky Polemonium
A low alpine perennial from the mountains of Colorado, growing 7 to 26 cm tall with blue-violet flowers and strong-smelling leaves. It is grown in rock gardens and needs cool conditions and well-drained, loamy soil.
Polemonium confertum, the Rocky Mountain skypilot or Rocky Mountain Jacob's-ladder, is a species in the phlox family that only grow in the mountains of Colorado in alpine areas.
Rocky Mountain skypilot is endemic to the state of Colorado where it grow from the southwest to north-central areas of the state. In the southwest it grows in La Plata, Dolores, San Juan, Hinsdale, Gunnison, Saguache, and Alamosa counties. In the central part of the state the species is found in Chaffee, Pitkin, Park, Summit, Clear Creek, Grand, and Boulder counties. The species is recorded growing at elevations of 3,350 to 3,720 meters (11,000–12,200 ft). It generally grows on scree or talus, slopes of broken and loose stones and more specifically the rocky piles found at the base of cliffs, in the alpine zone.
Although not a common garden plant, Rocky Mountain skypilot has been grown in rock gardens since at least 1903. Like other Polemonium species, it grows well in deep, loamy soils that are well drained.
Tall Jacob's-ladder · Northern Jacob's-ladder · Brandegee's Jacob's-ladder · Jacob's Ladder · Moving polemonium · Royal Jacob's-ladder · Mason's Jacob's-ladder · Mount Eddy Jacob's-ladder · Elegant Jacob's-ladder · Skypilot · Towering Jacob's-ladder · Annual polemonium
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polemonium confertum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
