It’s no secret that we like sedums around here. In fact we even have one garden area completely devoted to housing the sedums. It rests between a sidewalk and the driveway where the summer sun unmercifully beats down upon anyone unlucky enough to be planted there. It just so happens that succulents like sedums are perfect for these problem spots! They also do well on top of green roofs and other areas where plants are destined to receive minimal water. Succulents store water in their leaves which makes them more suitable for those harsh and dry areas.
In the sedum garden we have quite a few kinds. I’m always trying to add more sedums to the collection. Here in this photo are a tricolor sedum and another sedum that’s identity is a mystery. It’s cute though don’t you think? It’s the one in green with the small leaves. The tricolor is, well … the one with three colors!
One of my favorite sedums of all time is the ‘Dragon’s Blood’. Maybe it’s the name, maybe its the color, maybe its both but ‘Dragon’s Blood’ is a very cool sedum. I like how the foliage looks mixed together with the ‘Blue Spruce’ sedum; the contrasting burgundy and blue-green colors make each color stand out more. It grows low and makes a nice ground cover.
‘Autumn Joy’ is another popular sedum that everyone seems to en’joy’! It bursts with blooms in the fall.
Here’s another look at the ‘Blue Spruce’ sedum. It’s a great spreading ground cover if you help it along a little by sprigging offshoots into the ground where you want them. See the end of this post for more propagation information.
‘Purple Form’ sedum (Sedum hispanicum minus) is a new one we adding back in the spring. The tiny leaves are said to become tinted during the wintertime. When writing this post I actually forgot the name of this little sedum. I kept thinking ‘Purple Mound’ instead of ‘Purple Form’ so I googled some variations and eventually found this site called The Home Garden which helped me identify it! Who knew such great information existed! That’s why blogging is so good for gardeners, everything you do in the garden gets cataloged for future reference.
How to Propagate Sedum:
If you can’t propagate sedum you may have to invest in plastic plants! The sprawling sedums will do just fine by sticking little sprigs into the soil of its new location. Longer stemmed varieties like ‘Autumn Joy’ can be put in a jar of water for rooting. Most sedums will root easily from leaf cuttings but the larger leaves are easier to handle. Small leaves can be sprinkled into a small pot of soil and gently pressed in for rooting.
Sedum is a nice addition to any garden and it's versatility is wonderful. Your's look wonderful!
We love sedums (and sempervivums, hens-and-chicks), too, Dave. And you have a wonderful collection! I'd have loved this post anyway, but oh ha, that classic comment about finding your sedum's ID on a blog called The Home Garden!!! I can't tell you how many times someone's come on our blog to read some post or other and we think, "Hmmm, what does that post say? Better go read it and find out!"
I've gone over to lots of sedum, too. There is such variety in the plants and they are so easy to care for. Good post.