Now You Sedum

For long-time followers of this blog, you might recall that I have spent quite a bit of time trying to identify, remember, catalog, whatever, all of the daylilies and hosta plants that I have in my garden.  I haven't figured out everything, but I have a decent idea.  I just won't be starting a nursery anytime soon.

These last few weeks I have been busy taking lots of photos.  I found several varieties of sedums and coral bells.  I also realized that for most of these I had no memory of what I bought.  It seems that work and child-rearing got in the way of cataloging anything.  So, I set out to try to figure out what I had.

Today I present the sedums.  I love these because they are so undemanding.  And the ground cover sedums are great.  They crowd out the weeds, save on mulch and water, and spread like...well, weeds.

This first sedum was given to me by a friend who had a rock garden.  It pops up all over and can become invasive.  When the flowers die, I just yank them out, thereby keeping the spread in check.  Some call it rocky stonecrop.

This dragon's blood sedum is another that has moseyed all over the landscape mound in front.  The bees absolutely love it and I do not recommend getting too close when it is in bloom.

This variegated sedum, Sedum spurium 'Tricolor',  is another favorite.  Last year I grabbed two clumps, laid them on top of some soil in a new bed, and now I have ground cover in another area. 

 

The tricolor were planted along with this October Daphne, a lovely blue spreader that radiates from the center.  I only remember the specific name because I found the tag in my garage.  These were planted last year so I am curious to see how they will mature.

 

 

 

Another great spreader is this white stonecrop (?) (with an errant astilbe trying to poke thru).  This stonecrop has a much better habit that the yellow one above.  The flowers do not get as tall and flop over.  This also pops up in unexpected places.  I am not that fussy, so I usually leave it.
 

Of course, not all sedums hug the ground.  Some are much taller, such as this red-leaved variety, of which I have no idea what its name is.  It blooms much later in the season.  This picture was taken in mid- August last year.

 

Most of the taller varieties bloom in late summer and autumn, so I will keep my camera handy and photograph them as the season wears on.  With over 400 varieties, I doubt that I will be able to pinpoint what I have unless a name strikes a familiar chord with me.

 

So, now you sedum.