Tall and Purple

  This is going to be a report on the Sedum and Sedum hybrids in the rock garden that have turned out to have purple leaves. And some are taller than I expected, but that may be an anomoly.

These are not in full bloom yet, so you may see them again.

First up is the 'Oriental Dancer.' I'm really happy with this. It was one small stalk last spring, and I wanted a tall plant there.

I also bought this one last year as a broken-off discount table item. It's 'Night Embers.' This one is supposed to be tall, but something chomped it off early this year too. Looks like it's going to bloom anyway though.

On the other hand, the final three are ones I bought this year that I did not think were going to be tall. And given another year in my poor soil, they might not be. That would be fine. But here is the 'Blue Pearl.' At least this time, I'm sure it is the plant I ordered, but I'm still wondering if there are two different ones with the same name- this one and a 'Sunsparkler Blue Pearl.' Anyway, if this gets large in this location it's fine.

I bought two others at the same time, both hybrids. This is 'Peach Pearls.' I like the red stems, and if ends up only moderately tall it can stay in this location.

The last one is 'Banana Split,' and tall won't work in this space. So I'll need to see what this does next year. As a reminder (and you can see more in the link below) I thought the last two were going to be more similar in shape to the 'Coraljade' that I have. And given a year in the ground rather than their first summer out of a nursery pot, they might be. In neither case did I expect the leaves to be so dark, although that's not really a problem. Stay tuned.

I haven't gotten very far with the current weed-through, and I need to get moving on that. I want it to look nice when the next round of sedums start blooming.

Worked my part time job this morning, edited, did odds and ends in the afternoon. Humidity slowed me down again.

See Some of the New Plants

Next Round of Sedum Bloomers

This is one of my favorite rock garden plants, Sedum ellacombianum (now a Phedimus- guess I need to sort out what the new genera mean). I've had some of it in my rock garden since the very beginning, although recently a friend, Deb, gave me more of it.

It mounds up nicely so it's not invisible and the leaves have a nice greenish-yellow color. When it blooms it's covered with bright yellow clusters of flowers. It consistently looks good throughout the season. I do try to deadhead it when it's finished blooming, but that's not too hard since the flowers are clustered.

The other one that's in full bloom has two different looks. I'd been misidentifying it for years because the leaves usually turn deep red in the sun. So I thought it was 'Pork and Beans.' But last year, I wised up to the white flowers. It's Sedum album- album means white. And I think 'Pork and Beans' is larger. You can see the nice contrast between it and the S. ellacombianus side by side.

However, in shade, or occasionally even in sun, the leaves stay green. This is the same plant.

This little creeper is now everywhere in my gardens and yard. And it all came from one small pot long ago.

In other news, I managed to get outside for a few minutes this morning before the heat started blasting. Then I edited and all that stuff. Started a nasty project in the basement this afternoon. I've been saving it for this week because it's cooler down there than upstairs. Got it to the first stage and made a store run for parts, and then stopped for groceries too. I need cold pop and ice cream to get through this week. Open windows and fans are my friends.

Maybe I'll try another short round outside this evening. There are plants that need to go in the ground.

See More Sedum Fun

Last of the Rock Garden Color?

Some of these colors will last a while yet, but I think the last of the blooms to peak are happening now.

This is really a favorite purchase from this year, the 'Oriental Dancer' Sedum. I can't wait for it to have multiple stems next year.

It's always interesting how some plants just keep having an occasional blossom all season long even when they are past their peak time. This is the Dianthus 'Kohari.' When I bought it two years ago the patch was about a third this size. It's had one or two flowers open most of the season.

Back to a Sedum. This is the 'Rosenteller' one, and it's past prime, but I like how it's sharing the space with one out of season bloom of the Bloody Cranesbill. I only split this little patch off the big clump last fall, and it's doing great! I also like how it looks in front of that log. In the spring, it should have a little pasqueflower friend which you can barely see below it. I managed to find the one that had sprouted in the lawn and move it to the garden.

The blanketflower, Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' always looks great from July onwards, and especially so if I deadhead it. I'll be keeping my eyes open to buy one called 'Arizona Red' that doesn't have the yellow on it.

Also, the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' seems to be about at peak. This is one of the old rock garden plants that survived. It was eaten down to stubs two years in a row, but the fencing allowed it to recover this year. You can see that it also has a little Bloody Cranesbill friend.

I don't think there is anything yet to bloom this fall unless I get some sort of a surprise. There are a couple of fun things to show you from other locations, but I have to wait a few days for one of them yet.

Got a fair amount of work done today and did my road walk.

Miles hiked in 2025: 375

See Mid-September Garden Color

500 Species of Plants

Some of you know that one of my never-will-be-finished projects is to build a database of my photos so I might actually be able to find things. I keep working on it, usually a little bit each day.

One of the categories of pictures is, of course, plants. So yesterday, I hit 500 different species entered. This is out of a total of over 3000 photos entered so far. There will be lots more than 500 ultimately. I thought for today, I'd just pick some of my favorite plant pictures from the photos that are, so far, in the database.

I'll start with this bromeliad from the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show. Of course, these are used in displays a lot because they are so colorful and showy, but that doesn't keep me from liking them. Genus Aechmea variety 'Blue Tango.'

Not all of the favorite plant pictures are going to be exotic things. For example, here is a large white oak tree, Quercus alba, that is found along the Finger Lakes/North Country Trails. It's named for the family that owns the property it's on, the Yorski Oak. With few of the leaves out yet, you can see the great bones of this tree that is probably 200 years old. Picture taken in May 2010 on the hike on which I finished all of the NCT in New York.

This one is last fall in my rock garden. This is the Sedum 'Dazzleberry' making a large bumblebee very happy. See the full pollen baskets?

This is also last fall with late afternoon sunlight on Ostrich Ferns, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Near Round Lake.

This one is a little more exotic in that it's not commonly found, but I did find some very near my house in 2010. This is a Grape Fern, sometimes this group is called Moonworts. But those are both just names for a whole group of ferns. The Genus is Botrychium, and I think this is matricariifolium, or the Daisyleaf Moonwort. It's one of the more common ones in the group. That said, I've only ever seen two of species in real life. I'm pretty pleased that I found this one on my own. You can see why they are called "grape ferns" because the fertile leaves look like a small cluster of grapes getting ready to ripen. This whole plant is maybe an inch-and-a-half tall.

I'll end this collection with another from last fall. In the database, I've been alternating entering more recent months with older pictures, so the dates are all over the place. This is just Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, in full autumn color, with berries, and contrasted with some ash leaves.

Aren't plants great?

Today I found out that I can get the dental work I need started tomorrow! And that I have to only eat very soft food for two weeks. So, I went shopping because I don't want to have to face that if I feel really bad when I get home tomorrow.

Worked on all the usual projects. Vacation from DMS is up to 41,630 words.

See Best Photos of 2020

Those Purple Sedums, Two Weeks Later

Who knew that in two weeks I really wouldn't miss any of these sedums blooming. I'll present them in the same order as last time.

This is 'Jade Tuffet,' the one I bought less than a month ago. It has just burst with joy since being let out of its little pot. Not quite in full bloom yet.

The 'Cherry Tart' is partly in full bloom, and it continues to make me really happy with the colors. There are still a couple of the heads with buds.

This is the one from Betty, pretty certainly identified as 'Vera Jameson.' Not quite in full bloom, so plenty of time to enjoy this yet.

'Dream Dazzler' still has rather tight buds. It's interesting that I now have three small patches of this, and only one of them has many buds. That's OK, I'll let the patches get established now, so more should flower next year. These leaves change color a lot as the season progresses. It looks nicest earlier in the year.

The 'Coraljade' continues to be a big success story. This is just about in full bloom.

'Wildfire' also is doing different things in different places. The original patch does not have buds. A small patch I took off that has some tight buds. The leggy discount pot I bought a few weeks ago is covered in buds, but the leaf color is not as good as the one that overwintered. This is the new one. Blossoms still to come. The truth is, I really have these dark sedums mostly for the foliage, so I'm not too worried if they bloom or not.

Last year, 'Firecracker' bloomed a lot. This year, it only has a couple of buds. But that's fine. It's happy; it's filling in the space.

'Dazzleberry' has lots of buds that aren't quite open, so it should be stunning in a couple of days.

So far, I'm also really happy with 'Oriental Dancer.' This was a 4" sprig when I bought it this spring. That I'm getting one moderately tall stalk with blossoms this year is great. These are not open yet. Can't wait to see how dark they will be!

Weeding to do. Lots to do on every project here. But today I didn't accomplish much. This was a crash day. I mostly rested. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back in gear.

See Sedums Almost Blooming

Plants I Overwintered Inside

I said I'd show you how the plants did that I took inside for the winter last year. One is a great success, and the other is moderate.

The real winner is Sedum mexicanum 'Lemon Coral.' I ended up with three pots of it after dividing the clump I had in the fall. You may remember that this all started with a sad little $2 half-dead sprig. I put one of them back where I had it last year. The new single clump is as big as what I had here last year.

And the other two clumps of it. This one looks very nice filling in between the rocks.

And it contrasts nicely with the bronze ajuga. This is definitely worth bringing in for the winter. The color stays this bright yellow-green all season, and it quickly fills spaces where I tuck it in.

The other one is Sedum linare 'Sea Urchin.' The color is interesting, and I bought a very full pot of this last year, not realizing it isn't super hardy. (I did know the lemon coral wasn't). Here's a reminder of how great Sea Urchin (the green-white-pink spiky one) looked all season last year paired with Sedum elecombeanum.



I also split that clump into three pots for the winter. While both kinds of plant got leggy, the Sea Urchin got leggy and sad, and then sort of died back. Not completely, but the plants I could put out in the spring were not very big.

The one really interesting thing is that I had left a little bit of the original plant just to see if it might survive. The tag said it was hardy to 30 degrees- so, tender- but I thought it was worth a shot. That piece I left out survived. It was tiny this spring, but I had only left a tiny bit. Here's what that one looks like now. This is the same place as the above picture. Not filled in nearly as nicely.

So, then I still had three small plants to put other places. This is the most successful one.

The other two are still alive, but struggling.

And the very smallest one is not really any bigger than when I put it out.

As you can imagine, the small ones really don't show up at all in a garden of this size.

But, I will bring them in again this fall and see if I can end up with happier plants in the spring.

One web site says it can survive down to 14 degrees, so for sure I'll leave a couple of spots of it outside this winter. Maybe I can remember to insulate those spots with some extra leaves.

I gave away the fishbone cactus. It did not like being outside. I still have a little struggling aloe 'Pink Blush', but it doesn't like being out in the sun either.

Part of my sorting/cleaning project involves a place to keep plants over winter where they will be happier.

In other news: I worked on that project a lot this afternoon. Worked on computer stuff and editing in the morning. Very little gardening. The sun was HOT. I'm doing some garden record-keeping when I don't play in the dirt.

See Mid-Winten Garden Report

Two New Purple Sedums

This isn't a real rock garden report, but I have to show you one picture. I like how it looks when the ground is damp. I had just watered, and it makes the colors of the plants really stand out. This looks so much nicer than even a year ago!

I went to three nurseries in Holland over the weekend and bought 3 new plants. I'll show you the two sedums today. This is one of the Sunsparkler ones. It wasn't on my priority list to get, but it's hard to find the ones I don't have, so I bought it. This is called 'Jade Tuffet.'

The leaves are bright green in spring, but then they turn dark red in summer. The flowers are bright dusty pink in fall. I'm always looking for more dark-leaved plants. And the 'Sunsparkler' sedums are all great, so I'm glad I got it.

This one won't look like much until next year. It was broken, so it was on a markdown table. This is one of the tall sedums, now moved to Hylotelephium, called 'Night Embers.' The leaves are very dark. It will get tall and also have pink-purple flowers. It will make a great contrast with my other tall sedums which are all light green. I used to have another dark one, but it died out.

Today was productive. I made yogurt, edited, worked in the garden just a tiny bit before it got hot, worked on my sorting/cleaning project, and will do some more computer stuff yet this evening.

I bought some stuff- a granular powder that is supposed to repel the rodents without killing them. Hoping it will keep the chippies out of the gardens.

See Three Nice Sedums

Three Nice Sedums

Two of these I can positively ID. The other one, maybe not.

The first one was given to me by Betsy. I have two clumps of it now, and it will get about twice this tall before it blooms. This is a Sedum hybrid 'Thundercloud.' I had not noticed before this year that at this stage, the leaves have red edges. Classy! This stays compact and grows where I want it to. Excellent rock garden plant. It is flanked on the left by Sempervivum 'Red Heart,' which stays pretty consistently deep red. Of course, in the picture I see that I missed pulling a stalk of grass there. Sigh.

Next up is one I bought in 2023. It spreads slowly, but it's really wonderful. I bought a second one this year, but it's straggly yet, so I'll just show you this one. This is Sedum takisimense 'Atlantis.' I put it on the blog fairly often, but it has a lot of seasonal differences, so there's always something to see. It's just starting to bloom. You can see one yellow flower head opening.

So you can see how much it has filled in, here it is when I bought it two years ago. There are many sedums that spread faster, but this is worth waiting for.

Finally for today, here is the one I'm not sure of. I was thinking it was a Sedum hispanicum. I have 'Blue Carpet' and 'Pinkie.' But here's the deal. They drop balls and spread all over the place. That's fine. They fill in cracks between rocks. Both were just finishing blooming when I got home, so they aren't looking their best right now. And this is pre-bloom, also making me think it isn't one of those, in addition to the lighter green color. The others are blueish and blueish-pink.

The other choice for this is Sedum pallidum, sometimes called 'Turkish Sedum.' I also got that one from Betsy. My records say this is nowhere near where I planted it. However, these small carpet-type sedums just move themselves around very easily. At any rate, it's looking quite wonderful filling in the space between these two rocks.

I got back on track today and worked diligently on a number of my projects including editing. More rock garden weeding. It's beginning to look better. I'm enjoying time alone.

See Thyme Time