Draba aizoides — yellow whitlow grass — is a tight, evergreen cushion alpine native to the mountains of southern and central Europe, including the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, and Jura. Stiff, bristle-fringed leaves form a dense rosette barely an inch tall, and in the earliest weeks of spring — often before the last frost has cleared — it studs itself with bright yellow, four-petaled flowers on wiry stems just a few inches high.
Like most true alpines it wants lean, gritty, sharply drained soil and full sun, and resents rich ground or standing winter moisture far more than it minds cold. It suits a scree bed, trough, or the gaps in a dry stone wall, where its roots can run into mineral soil instead of sitting wet. Once established it is extremely low-maintenance and long-lived, slowly building into a tighter mat each year.
Root rot
Plants wilt, yellow, and stunt even in moist soil; lower stems and roots turn brown, soft, and mushy and the plant may collapse. Most common in heavy, wet, or poorly drained ground.
Improve drainage and stop overwatering, and never plant too deep. Lift and destroy badly affected plants along with the soil around the roots. Grow in raised or free-draining beds to prevent it returning.