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.
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:
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.
Our Brown Turkey Fig bush is humongous this year - biggest it’s ever been. For two or three years, we had such low temps that the bush was killed back to the roots. It always sprouts back, but the figs are small & very late. We had pretty decent figs last year & the bush wasn’t killed back at all this past winter, so that’s why it’s a giant and LOADED with figs.
So the figs are coming in hot & heavy now. Usually, I don’t have enough ripe at one time to do anything with them, but this year is different. Mom picked a large mixing bowl about half full, chopped them up and put them in the crock pot. After cooking to mush, I put them in the blender. The consistency is like a very thick apple sauce. Add a little sweetener & it’s delicious! She’s going to use it as a topping on her yogurt & as a jam on toast. If there was a recipe that called for apple sauce instead of oil, this fig puree would be perfect in lieu of apple sauce. I ‘ll have to look around for a fig bread/cake recipe. We’ll freeze it and have fig puree for months. The birds and bees usually end up getting the majority of our figs, but not this year!
No, they're not baby Brontosauruses, lol. It's a reversed video of running coatimundis
(related to raccoons).
Have you ever grown comfrey? Per the articles it’s invasive, but the flowers look pretty. Evidently, it’s a “nutritional powerhouse” for deer. Hmmm ... deer food plot with comfrey?
There’s a homesteading page I follow & they just made comfrey salve - something I’d like to try. I’ll have to find a spot & grow some. So now I’m up to elderberry syrup, echinachea tincture & comfrey salve. Add to that ‘fire cider’. I’m going to end up being a regular ‘medicine woman’!
How to Grow Comfrey – So Easy!
https://thehomesteadinghippy.com/how-to-grow-comfrey/
How to Make Comfrey Salve (and Why You Should!)
https://practicalselfreliance.com/comfrey-salve/
How to Make Comfrey Salve For Bumps and Bruises
https://thehomesteadinghippy.com/how-to-make-comfrey-salve/
Homemade Traditional Fire Cider Recipe & Benefits
https://melissaknorris.com/podcast/traditional-fire-cider-recipe-benefits-guide/
A quiet place to sit and read a book....Alice in Wonderland perhaps!
I put the long weekend to good use. I side-dressed the sweet corn and tilled that in. The plants are close to knee-high already so that will be the last time I can fit the tiller between the rows. Made it around the pond dam and the kitchen garden with the weed whacker, mowed the yard, and did a few minor chores in the barn, but mostly I had the cannery fired up.
I picked ~3/4 bushel of pole beans, and had about that many more already popped in the fridge. Wound up with 21qts. The butternut squash in this pic weighed 5.5lbs.
I know, I said I was done canning tomatoes. Until I wasn't. A friend gave us a sack of eggplant, and Mrs. Augie still had some summer squash that hadn't been shredded and there were fresh bell peppers ready to pick, so I just had to make a batch of ratatouille. Now I'm done canning tomatoes. I've lost count of how many jars I've processed this summer, but I'm well on the north side of 200 at this point.
