The plant lover’s guide to sedums

448 Pages·2014·31.11 MB·English

by  Horvath

THE PLANT LOVER’S GUIDE TO
SEDUMS
BRENT HORVATH
TIMBER PRESS
PORTLAND • LONDON
CONTENTS
Why I love Sedums
Designing with Border Beauties and
Stonecrops
Understanding Sedums
150 Sedums for the Garden
Growing and Propagating
WHERE TO BUY
WHERE TO SEE
FOR MORE INFORMATION
HARDINESS ZONE TEMPERATURES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PHOTO CREDITS
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WHY I LOVE SEDUMS
I grew up in the nursery business and continue to
work in it today, and throughout my career, I
have come to admire sedums more and more.
They are so easy to grow, so varied, and so
gorgeous.
In autumn, the rich, earthy colors of the season—russets, golds, and
buffs—signal cooling temperatures and the winding down of the
gardening year. Many people grow Autumn Joy Hylotelephium
‘Herbstfreude’, the classic perennial sedum, and enjoy its season-long
metamorphosis of hue. The flowerheads of soft raspberry pink deepen
to garnet as fall approaches. What’s more, in all but the harshest
climates, this tenacious plant continues to delight through the winter
months as its flowerheads turn copper, then bronze.
Something of a sedum poster child, ‘Herbstfreude’ may be the
most familiar but is by no means the only worthy example of this
broad group. It has many charming cousins.
Of the literally hundreds of different sedums, tall and small, the majority are as
easy to grow as ‘Herbstfreude’, asking little more than a sunny spot in well-
drained soil. Because sedums are technically succulents, they can survive
drought and forgive neglect, thanks to their juicy, moisture-retaining leaves and
tough root systems. Unlike their relatives the jade plant (Crassula) and cacti,
many sedums are hardy in USDA Zones 5 to 9. If you live in a region where
sedums cannot withstand winter outdoors, you can always enjoy them in
containers and bring them indoors for the cold months, or take cuttings and start
over the following spring.
If you don’t have any sedums in your garden yet, start small. Pick one or
more for a pot or for your garden. I highly recommend Christmas cheer (Sedum
×rubrotinctum) for a container. This trusty plant will brighten a window for the
winter, cheerfully color up in spring, enjoy the heat of summer, and hunker
down with you in the fall.
Getting to know sedums has been an adventure for me. There are so many
species, from all over the world. Some hail from the steppes and lower mountain
slopes of eastern Asia and Europe, others come to us from settings as diverse as
Japanese islands and Rocky Mountain outcroppings. Because gardeners have
appreciated these plants for a long time, there are plenty of worthwhile
selections, hybrids, and variations, and new ones are continuing to enter the
trade every year.
The last definitive book on the group, Sedum: Cultivated Stonecrops, by Ray
Stephenson, was published in 1994. A lot has changed since then. Not only have
many more plants and variations come on the scene, but botanical research has
entered a new realm whereby plants are now being classified and reclassified
according to DNA-based information. As botanists have been working to sort
out and catalog the diversity in sedums, there has been a lot of reorganization
and some confusion persists. Briefly, many stonecrops remain in the genus
Sedum, although some have been reclassified into other genera, notably
Petrosedum and Phedimus. Most if not all of the border types are now placed in
a separate genus Hylotelephium. Please don’t let such details daunt you or deter
you from exploring these plants or tracking down ones that you really want. No
matter what they’re called, they are all related and often marvelous.
Sedums make perfect container plants. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can
still enjoy them.
Whether you favor the handsome border sedums with their surprising variety
of flower and foliage colors, or you prefer the low-growing groundcover
sedums, there are plenty of plants to capture your imagination and enhance your
garden—not just in autumn, but throughout the gardening year.
Border Beauties
Border Beauties
The taller, upright-growing sedums, now in genus Hylotelephium, grow more or
less erect and have dense, domed flowerheads composed of many tiny starry
flowers, much like a colorful broccoli head. Foliage is thick, fleshy, and
succulent and runs from sage green to blue to dark red in color.
Most border sedums come to life in spring with light green leafy buds that
eventually open to white, pink, or red flowers in late summer to early fall. In
summer, they are a popular stage for butterflies (avid butterfly gardeners include
sedums on their lists of desirable plants, particularly the autumn-blooming
border types), and bees often visit as well. As the weather cools, the flowerhead
colors grow richer and deeper. If your winters are not too harsh, these sedums
remain standing for months longer still—their broad forms contrasting with the
faded foliage of nearby plants or perhaps gathering a jaunty cap of snow atop
their dried flowerheads.
Some plants are tall, up to 2 feet (60 cm), and can hold their own in a mixed
border. Recent years have seen the introduction of some intriguing shorter ones.
The so-called cloud sedums are not only a foot (30 cm) tall and stockier, but also
extra-floriferous as well. The Desert series, which includes ‘Black’, ‘Blonde’,
and ‘Red’, is even shorter, coming in under a foot (30 cm) tall. These
introductions suggest new uses.
In general, the border sedums thrive in the company of other plants because
they are undemanding and not aggressive. Many gardeners include them among
late-season bloomers like asters, ornamental goldenrods, and boltonias, where
their broad flowerheads contribute harmonizing or contrasting color. They’re
terrific with ornamental grasses, which also come into their own in the fall.
There are hundreds of Hylotelephium cultivars and hybrids, and more
coming out each year. In this book, I have included about two dozen of the ones
I think are the best or most representative.
Groundcovering Sedums
These little charmers, collectively known as stonecrops, usually remain under 4–
6 inches (10–15 cm) tall as they creep, spread, and sprawl. You might be
surprised to learn that they are so closely related to the border types, given their
small stature, but in many respects, they are quite similar. They have succulent
leaves (which tend to be evergreen in mild-climate areas), usually carry their
starry flowers in clusters, and for the most part thrive in average soil and full
sun.
Because of their size, stonecrops are often used as botanical carpets, on
either open ground or lounging over rocks and walls. A few are tough enough to
withstand foot traffic and adorn the spaces between terrace or walkway stones.
Some are so tiny, they can enhance a terrarium display, and bonsai enthusiasts
use them at the base of their treasured miniature trees. Individual plants,
especially those with striking foliage or flowers, are ideal in rock gardens. These
sedums can also soften the edges of formal displays in urn-type planters, trough
gardens, and windowboxes; solo, they’ll thrive in shallow pots filled with a
gritty or well-drained soil mix. They’re also excellent for greenroofs and other
innovative planting concepts.
Few plants can compete with sedums for sheer range of colors and versatility,
not to mention beauty.
Many gardeners prefer stonecrops by themselves or paired with one another.
Thanks to the different hues these come in, and their changeable nature over the
course of a growing year, stonecrops are indeed wonderful combiners. Their