Posted on 09/03/2022 5:58:30 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
History Of Sedums: Learn About Sedum Stonecrop Plants
Some of my favorite low maintenance plants are sedums. I like to tuck them in amongst a rockery, along paths, in containers and even have a few as houseplants. Once established, these are the type of plant you don’t have to worry about when you go on extended holiday. They are succulents and not only useful as beautiful carefree specimens, but the history of sedums includes use as food and medicine.
Sedums can be found wild in most parts of the world. They are especially adapted to poor soils and can be very drought tolerant. They may be deciduous or evergreen, depending upon type. Additional characteristics vary by plant, with some low growing ground covers, others trailing, hanging specimens and still other varieties are taller vertical spectacles. The most common in the group have leaves that are plump and waxy with starry flower clusters that rise above the foliage – such as Autumn Joy sedum.
Sedum Plant History
The Sedum genus name comes from the Latin ‘sedo,’ meaning “to sit.” They are found in Europe, Asia, North Africa, Mexico and a few are even native to North America. Recognized species go by very colorful names such as Burro’s Tail, Gold Chain, Bird’s Bread, and Creeping Tom. The versatile plants are also in a bit of a tug-of-war surrounding their genus name. Some in the family are now classed as members of Hylotelephium, while others retain their Sedum status.
Such changes continue to occur in the botanical world as scientists unravel the genes of plants and reposition them to reflect more accurate family groups. As garden and greenhouse specimens, sedums have become popular since the early 1900s but were used by collectors as early as the 1800s.
History of Sedums as Food and Medicine
Anything you ingest should be carefully researched. This goes for the edible and medicinal varieties of sedum stonecrop plants. There are over 400 species in the family, some of which could cause illness if ingested. The juice in the succulent leaves and stems can be used topically to quell burn symptoms and on small scrapes and scratches.
One variety, Sedum sarmentosum, was reportedly used in Asia to treat inflammatory conditions. Several species of Sedum are undergoing trials as treatments for pain and swelling, with promising early results. As a food, sedums are used in salads and soups. S. sarmentosum and S. reflexum are the two most notable varieties that have a history of food use.
Fun Types of Sedum Stonecrop Plants
There are many unique forms of sedum plants. Here is a sampling of fun types to grow in your garden:
Groundcovers
Two-Row sedum (S. spurium) – An evergreen, mat forming species with numerous colorful cultivars
Broadleaf stonecrop (S. spathulifolium) – Silver to lime green leaves, branching, low, spreading plant.
Spanish stonecrop (S. hispanicum) – Close set, finely textured leaves that blend seamlessly into each other with blue-gray color.
Upright
Ice Plant stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile) – A vertical classic with a huge umbel of tiny starry flowers.
Coppertone sedum (S. nussbaumerianum) – Bronze foliage and orange-gold flowers.
Orpine (S. telephium syn. Hylotelephium telephium) – Bluish purple leaves and deeply hued stems.
Trailing
Burro’s Tail (S. morganianum) – Classic chubby, bluish green leaves reminiscent of a burro’s tail
Carpet sedum (S. lineare) – Tiny buttercup yellow foliage with dense growth and cascading habit.
Growing Sedum & Stonecrop Ground Cover Plants in Your Garden
https://www.gardendesign.com/sedum/
BASICS
Zones: Varieties available for zones 3-11.
Height/Spread:
Taller varieties can grow to be 2 feet tall and wide; creeping sedums (ground covers) range 2 to 6 inches tall and up to 24 inches wide.
Exposure:
Full sun to partial shade, depending on variety.
Bloom time:
Late summer and fall flowers.
Deer: Although stonecrops do appear on some deer-resistant plant lists, they may still be nibbled on if there isn’t a better food source available. Well-established garden plants will almost always bounce back after some deer damage.
2019 Annual of the Year: Lemon Coral® Sedum
'Donkey's Tail'
'Pork And Beans'
We are enduring quite a heat wave in SoCal, temps up to 110, 108 expected to day and over 100 for most of next week.
We are also under a no-outdoor-watering mandate starting tomorrow for 15 days while pipes are being fixed somewhere - watering by hand is OK. Thank God. The new trees in my median wouldn't last 15 days w/0 water.
Glad I switched over to water-wise plants, mostly.
This is a "Purple Jack" plumeria that decided to make an appearance - I've had it for years and its flowers are few and far between:
I recently attended an outdoor dahlia show in San Francisco - I cannot grow them in Southern California, have had no luck and rarely see them in outdoor gardens here:
And my helpers, who are not enjoying the high heat, not at all:
We love sedums ... have them all over the place. For a decade or more, they were beautiful in fall with their purple flowers - the butterflies loved them and mom used them in flower arrangements. Then the deer started eating them 2 or 3 years ago and have continued to eat them - they munch about the top 2/3 of the plant. It’s really sad.
Question for you! Mom bought those 4 echinachea plants from the garden center - large & already blooming in the pots, flowers are in the orange color family. The flowers are now going to seed. I’m cutting off the seed cones (now black) & saving in a paper bag to plant next year. If the plants were not close to the house, the goldfinches would have already picked the seeds clean! The seeds should be ‘good’, right? Even if the plant is a hybrid? I don’t care if it doesn’t come back the same color, as long as we get a plant/flowers.
If I can get my lazy self outside, I might plant some radishes & kale. My SIL did this earlier in August & now has a nice fall garden. The cukes are totally gone, need to clean out the dead vines & that will give me space to plant inside the fencing - deer love radishes. It’s sunny now, but clouds are all around & supposed to cover us most of the day, so it won’t be so hot in the garden.
Did a web search expecting/hoping to find that based on the name, they'd be good for a rocky area I have.
The name stonecrop derives from the fact that these plants not only tolerate dry, rocky soil but positively thrive in it"
A hardy plant that grows well in shallow soil"
Low–growing sedum spreads along the ground, reaching only a few inches (or less) in height. This makes them perfect for use as a ground cover along paths, in rock gardens, or cascading down a stone wall."
Yep. It's a tough spot to try and plant anything due to not much soil. Grass and weeds manage to grow there and weed wacking them is tough because of all the rough rocks. It eats up the nylon weed wacker string. The rocks are 1-2 foot in diameter and some stick up 1 foot out of the ground. Always had a vision of having something attractive planted there, filling in between the rocks with some of the rocks jutting up out of it.
Well, the ‘orange’ tells me they are hybrids, so you’ll most likely get the basic purple coneflower from those seeds.
I let mine go to seed, too. I’ve gotten a few seedlings from them, which I’ve been moving to The Big Garden as filler. One stayed red, one is back to purple. But either way is fine with me.
I have ‘Julia Butterflies’ ‘Lakota’ and another bi-color I can’t remember. (’Cheyenne’ something...) They start off colorful, but now they all just look basic purple to me.
I LOVE Sedum. The front of the house is south-facing and our foundation is fieldstone, so it gets hot, hot, hot there. The only landscaping plants I kept were the Sedum that Linda had planted years ago, though I added some purple in with the basic ‘Autumn Joy.’ I also have perennial grasses that do great in those conditions, too. When I get tired of fighting Japanese Beetles for my roses, I’m going to re-do all around the greenhouse with Sedum.
Right now the Sedum are starting to bloom and look very pretty and colorful. They are also one of the last food sources for bees and butterflies, so they’re always busy. :)
I told Beau what my ‘theme’ was, today. He said, ;Do they kick you off for being CORNY?’ I said, ‘No. That only happens to me on Facebook.’ *SNORT*
I can SMELL that Plumeria every time you post a picture of one. One of my favorite scents. :)
Sedum are PERFECT for rocky areas; they’re basically a ‘Rock Garden’ plant. Around here, people use them as fillers in their rock retaining walls and they look just beautiful.
The only drawback is that they might eventually creep into an area of lawn, but they pull out easily enough and you just replant them back in the rocks.
Lovely gif. I totally forgot that autumn was coming soon. Nice reminder.
Thanks, Pete!
Thanks - I’m good with purple flowers.
The goldfinches are having a hey-day around here. My volunteer sunflowers have become seed heads & they’re working them over. They’re all over my zinnias & the tithonia has really started blooming so they’ll be on that soon as well. I have a hard time getting tithonia seeds because they pick the seed cones bare in a flash. Mom has some coneflowers (2 or 3) in a wildflower patch (came in the seed package a couple years ago & reseed themselves) and the goldfinches are all over those as well. Another colorful flower that I don’t think are gourmet salad bar items for deer are blanket flowers - she’s got some of those in that wildflower patch as well & I’d like to grow them in other places next year.
We are loaded with bluebirds - I need to clean out the nest boxes. Dad put up some extra boxes (3) out in the fields & I think every one had a nest in it. This is in addition to the ones near the house, another 3 boxes with nests in at least 2. The hummers are in greater numbers this year than in years prior - must have had some successful nests. My SIL has her feeder on the porch and no joke, it’s hard to do anything on that end because the hummers are constantly flying around, challenging/chasing each other, etc. Fun to watch!
My brother has ‘spa’ plans for the big fat doe who is likely munching down the sedums, but when it’s that time of year (just around the corner: Oct. 2 early archery), she’ll disappear.
I don’t see them sedum, the deer breached and stripped them, nice juicy leaves in a drought.
They can’t kill Autumn Joy, it will be back next year.
I only ever complain about deer on this thread. Next year I am growing my vegetables in containers on my daughter’s deck.
I’ve been seeing two twin 8-point bucks and a lot of fat doe all summer long.
Same thing here; I think they KNOW and go on a cruise when the season opens, LOL!
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