More Sedum Fun

Yesterday, I said I'd looked up how many Sedums there are, and it's between 400-500. Of course, now they've added three new genera: Hylotelephium, Petrosedum and Phedimus. Most everyone is still calling them all sedums or stonecrops. But the numbered species doesn't account for all the varieties- there are apparently more than 500 recognized cultivars. So... a lot.

Not all of those are hardy enough for me to even try in my gardens. My records have 58 entries, but a few of those are repeats for a second acquisition. Not all are still alive as I pointed out in the link about Sedum failures.

But I've added three this week. I got this one yesterday. This is the one the nursery had no clue about. It's one I've previously tried, but not the variegated form. This is Sedum sieboldii (but now one of the Hylotelephium.) I'm really happy to have found it. It can get about 8" tall. Some sites say hardy in my zone, some say not.

And this is one Betsy gave me that I didn't previously have. This will form a mat that drapes all over. It's Sedum stolonifera, still a sedum. I don't know much about it, so we will watch it mature together.

Betsy also gave me this. This is Sedum hispanicum, of which there are at least 5 cultivars. I have two of them, but I think this is the basic version. She raised it from seed! It needs a little time to fill in more. This is a mature clump of the 'Pinkie.'

And then, this is the next wave of sedum to blossom. This is the Sedum reflexum (and I see they've changed it to Petrosedum). There are at least 6 cultivars of this. I have two and covet two more. This one is 'Blue Spruce' because the leaves look a lot like small blue spruce branches. Here is a side view.

It moves itself around a lot- after it blooms, those stems often die back and it pops up with new stems nearby. But it likes to get into cracks between rocks, so it often fills in spaces where there isn't much else. It's easy to rip out of places I don't want it, so I pretty much let it do its thing. Here is a top-down view, and I think you can see the little spruce-y stalks.

The garden is getting a little drink right now before the temperatures start going up tomorrow, and then I'll be going to lie down.

It's not really a secret about my tiny summer job. I'm helping with laundry and cleaning at a local resort. I spent 3.5 hours this morning vacuuming couches! I'd never thought of that as being strenuous, but I'd never done nine of them in a row before. Stopped at a store on the way home and did a tiny bit of gardening in the afternoon. Betsy brought more plants!!! But mostly... I'm beat.

See Sedum Failures