If there's a garden centre nearby (or even somewhere like B&Q or Homebase with a plant section) have a look in the alpine section. There'll often be a few different ones and they're not usually expensive.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Aubretia is perfectly hardy as long as it has what it needs - sun and gritty soil with enough moisture to thrive. It's preference is for neutral to alkaline soil, so if you have acidic soil, it may not do well.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I can grow aubretia here too - slightly acid well drained sand, and a lot less rain than @Fairygirl gets. Things that are fairly common around the country are usually easy to grow and not very fussy about conditions. The retaining wall should have seep holes pr something to stop water from building up behind it, so unless they're blocked the drainage shouldn't be a problem (I can't see the pictures today).
If aubretia isn't tough enough, the trailing campanulas (poscharskyana and portenschlagiana) will be. They are spreaders but down the wall shouldn't be a problem, and mowing should sort them if they try to grow into the grass.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Another one that came into my head today is Cerastium. It would grow anywhere that Arabis etc grows. Again - all of these smaller, low growing plants can have bulbs in and around them - crocus and dwarf narcissus etc
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks for this. I'm really pleased to see that these might grow in my garden. I chuckled at the comment about the campanulas - we have a fair amount of ground elder around the edges of our garden - if it can also give that a run for its money I'd be happy!
@MadDogLady73 Do you have ground elder in your lawn next to the wall ? It has a nasty habit of winding it's roots around everything it comes into contact with. Think you will need to watch any new plantings and clear the area of weeds as best you can.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Again - all of these smaller, low growing plants can have bulbs in and around them - crocus and dwarf narcissus etc
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...