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

Tiny Flowers

Some of the things blooming in the rock garden right now have very tiny flowers.

I'll lead off with one of the brand new sedums. I'm very happy with it, but it may not be hardy. I'm going to leave some out for the winter and bring another pot inside to be sure I'll have some come spring. I think I do need to buy a grow light. I suspect my poor luck with overwintering is related to poor light.

This is the 'Little Missy' Sedum. The flowers are extra-tiny. The leaves are only about a quarter inch long.

Here's one I've shared off and on. This is one of the Sedum hispanicum varieties. I have 'Blue Carpet,' and 'Pinkie.' They tend to move themselves around and pop up who knows where. I expect they also get promiscuous. But my guess is this is 'Pinkie.' Betsy just gave me another clump, too, that seems to be neither blue nor pink.

Can you even see the flower on this one? Unlike the Creeping Thyme that gets covered with blossoms, this is Thyme 'Sparkling Bright.' It's taller and the foliage looks more white from a distance. But it does get tiny light purple flowers.

This is the Creeping Speedwell 'Georgia Blue.'

Finally, here is a really, really tiny one. I won't tell you what this is today, but it will be featured again.

In other news: The ground squirrel must be slipping under the fence. He's doing some damage. I put out repellant. Lets' hope he doesn't like it.

In the morning, I worked my little part-time summer job and weeded the driveway flower bed in the afternoon. I finished the big section of that and was going to show you, but the light is all dappled now, and pictures are no good. So that will be another day.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing trail work. Have to get up earlier than I like, but I can do it. And if I'm home in time, I have a meeting in the afternoon.

See Sorting Out Sedums

Swapping Plants with Betsy

Betsy asked if she could stop by because she had some plants for me.

She wasn't kidding! She brought me a whole tray of plants, with 13 different things in it! And they've been cared for so they are as nicely established as anything from a nursery. Some are for the rock garden, and some for other places.

I did get three of them planted. It takes a hot minute to figure out where I want new plants to be.

This is Sedum ternatum, Woodland Sedum. It also grows wild and rambly in the woods, although I can't honestly say I've ever found it in the woods. I'm not sure that it likes full sun. I guess I'll find out. Supposedly it tolerates it, but it may not be as sprawling and drape as well as if it had some shade. It will have white flowers, and will contrast nicely in any season with the 'Firecracker' Sedum- the purple to its left.

Anyway, I'm trying it here where the purple rock cress was. That is barely alive. Not sure why- it should be very happy where I put it. Anyway, it's now in a pot and will hopefully recover.

She gave me two Sempervivums that I did not have. I'd been thinking I needed something like these for the spaces between logs at the top of the garden.

This one is 'Chocolate Kiss.'

And this is 'Blue Boy.'

There is some other plant news on the horizon too, but this is certainly enough for one day.

In other news: I edited, I got groceries. Then Betsy came. She already has most of the things I have available to share, but I did send her home with a few plants. It's fun to have a friend who likes the variety of plants as much as I do!

And, you know, I'm contemplating another garden space in my head.

See Betsy's Rock Garden

Life is Good in Color

Just thinking this morning that Life is Good! I was in my chair with a cup of coffee, doing my wake-up computer tasks. The deck door is open. The sun is shining, but it's cool yet with a light breeze ruffling the quaking aspen. House finches with their bright red-purple heads are enjoying the bird bath. I took my morning "walk" to visit the gardens and see what flowers might begin blooming today.

The rock garden is beginning to explode with the yellows of so many sedums, but this picture I took today has to be the color winner. This is a Red-spotted Purple Admiral on the Creeping Thyme

But back to the yellows. The taller stuff is the Sedum Sexangulare, but there are bursts of the still-blooming Sedum 'Weihenstephaner Gold' to the right and one Ice Plant 'Granita' to the left.

This is the Bloody Cranesbill with Dianthus 'Kahori.'

This one has a whole lot of plants. The purple is Creeping Thyme, Sedum sexangulare to the left, the 'Kahori' is beyond that. Just in front of the thyme is the patch of Sedum 'Atlantis' that is slowing getting bigger. A small patch of dark 'Dream Dazzler' Sedum and more Bloody Cranesbill is on the right.

This one was from last week. The variegated Vinca was still blooming. Now it's trying to spread runners to take over the world. I've been giving it severe haircuts. More Bloody Cranesbill to the right. It is also getting shaved on this pass through the garden.

I haven't mentioned this pink flower yet this year. This is the 'Siskiyou' Primrose. It is fairly nifty, although it, too, is willing to spread everywhere. I've currently let it take over two spaces until I get something else to put in the second space. More Sedum sexangulare. And just starting to bloom on the far left is the Sedum elecambeanum.

Finally, color in the sky last night. Very intense, and making even the clouds in the east turn pink.

In other news: I did all the usual things, plus laundry, and put a piece of decor back on the wall that keeps falling off. Yeah, me. Josh stopped by. He's looking good.

See Mostly Current Colors

Sedum Failures

It's really interesting to me that some sedums, even though they are supposed to be hardy, just don't seem to thrive for me.

And then, there are others that are too aggressive.

I'll start with the worst one of those. The yellow seaweed-looking thing is Sedum sexangulare. The rock garden is full of it, and it all came from one 3-inch pot. Right now, it's looking close to its best. But when it's done blooming, the stalks all have to be trimmed or it looks awful. And I have to rip it out of everwhere or it crowds out anything. If it weren't so aggressive, I'd put up with trimming it.

Here's another that I did manage to get rid of. This is Sedum acre. You'll see it all over people's lawns here in sandy west Michigan. It's nice in the spring, and then it gets bright yellow flowers and is beautiful, and then it just looks awful for the rest of the season even if you trim it.

Also in the running for a medal in the agressive category is the Sedum album. But it rips out easier and doesn't crowd other plants as much. The blue spruce sedum (Sedum reflexum) is not far behind, but it also rips out easily.

Then there are the ones that just fail to thrive. This is 'John Creech.' This is the second time I've tried it, and this patch is alive, but it just doesn't fill in well, and has never bloomed. It's supposed to get starry pink flowers and form a dense mat, but it just looks scraggly.

This one makes me sad. It is the 'Sea Urchin' sedum. It's not really hardy, although this little bunch did overwinter. Good thing, because the ones I brought in the house didn't do well. They really don't look any better than this one. I gave them a spot that should have had enough light, but they just got sadder and sadder. This is what Sea Urchin looked like the year I bought it.

And this was my second try at Sedum dasyphyllum. This was last year August, and there's even less of it out there this spring. It really should be happy here, but it's sure not.

Well, a nice garden involves a lot of trial and error and experimenting, right?

Here's an experiment. I bought another little sedum this year. It's very dainty, but if the patch is big enough it will work in my large spaces. Some sites say it's hardy and others say not. We shall see. I'll probably leave some out and bring some in this fall just in case. This is Sedum 'Little Missy.'

We got 3 inches of rain last night! Everything was way too wet to work outside today, but the temperature stayed tolerable. Tomorrow is supposed to be steamy again with even more rain.

I edited on two different manuscripts, went shopping (where I ran into friends and visited a while), and then worked on the other project I'm trying to get caught up. All in all, I get gold stars today.

See Sedum Successes

Some of the New Plants

I'm still waiting for one of the plants that I bought with the gift from the Confidence Camp friends, but I need to get the rest of them in the ground, so I'm going ahead with showing you these. Here's the pile.

Two of them are Heuchera that I've never seen before. You know I'm always looking for things that are a little out of the ordinary.

The first is 'Smoke and Mirrors,' with lovely gray leaves.

And this is the one I paid full price for, but I just had to get it. Look at the spots! This is 'Midnight Rose.'

I put both of these at the east end of the front bed, moved a couple of the small blue hosta (unknown variety), and split a small piece off the 'Wiggles and Squiqqles,' that I hope will grow. I think I'm going to have to move one of the ones I planted last year to show it off better, but we'll see. This space is definitely progressing toward looking good.

Now for three new Sedums. Well, I'm trying again with the 'Blue Pearl.' I do think I've got the correct plant this time. These came from a reputable garden supply rather than an eBay seller. (Bluestone Perennials- and by the way, these came packaged extraordinarily well). It's going into the same space where I had the one that got eaten. Daffodil leaves there, but they will die back soon.

The other two are color variations of the 'Coraljade' Sedum that I've been so happy with. Here's a reminder of what that one looks like this week. It's a patented hybrid.

And what its flowers look like- the flowering season is very long lasting, and it constantly changes tones. Here is a picture of it blooming last year.

So when I found out that there are two other colors of the same hybrid, I decided to get them. This one is 'Banana Split.' Its flowers will be shades of pale yellow.

And this one is called 'Peach Pearls,' and the flowers are supposed to be a peachy orange.

Stay tuned for progress, but these seem pretty safe since their close relatives have been so successful.

I did a lot of good stuff today- editing and cleaning the kitchen in addition to garden playing. Gave the rock garden a drink.

Looking at plant records from last year, there were a lot of casualties. That doesn't make me happy, but it's all a learning experience.

See New Plants 2025

Orange and Gold

Lots is happening in the gardens! It's hard to choose what to feature, but I'll do another piece of the color wheel. This is orange and gold.

I'll start with a treat for the front garden. I promised myself I would buy one 'Inferno' Coleus this year, and I did. I had moderate success with keeping some coleus over the winter and I've also planted those amid the old daffodil leaves. Hopefully, they will be nice enough to show you the whole lineup in a while. With one of the 'Inferno' in my possession, I can try to keep some over the winter.

Now, we'll move to the rock garden. This is one of the Sedums I've had for a very long time. I bought it in 2001- S. kamtschaticum 'Weihenstephaner Gold.' It's reliable. It fills its space but doesn't get too aggressive, and has fairly showy gold flowers in early June. I've now got it established in a second location. I'll probably grab a bunch of this and try for three.

This is a Sedum that is currently very popular in gardens, but there's a good reason for that. It looks great! The foliage gets golden orange in the sun. Here it is with 'Gold Rush' (which seldom looks gold) Sempervivum, and violet leaves on the left. It's Sedum ruprestre 'Angelina.' The SunSparklers line has come out with a miniature version of it, but my unhealthy soil keeps the full-size one from getting very big, so I'm content.

If it gets less sun, it stays a chartreuse color.

The ice plant, Delosperma 'Granita,' decided to open today! More about the ice plants in general another time.

And you must have guessed that we won't make it out of this color without yet another shot of Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget.' It continues to get ever more gold, and less red.

I edited and went shopping. Managed to finish trimming around the rock garden this afternoon and got the fence reinstalled. It's rather damaged. I am its worst enemy as I trip over it constantly. It's also my enemy. I haven't taken a bad fall yet, but I probably will at some point. Now I'm working on the trimming around the front garden.

I'll be showing you the new plants one of these days soon.

See Bright Pink