Apart from having succulent leaves, all sedums are incredibly diverse. The leaves might be little and prickly or big and flat, and they can have an oval or round form. They could often be standing or lying down.
Climbing sedum—is it a succulent?
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and other upright sedum types are well known among gardeners as great plants for adding color to the hot, dry days of late summer and early autumn. But in hot, arid regions where other plants struggle to survive, a number of low-growing sedum types also make excellent ground cover plants.
The Sedum genus contains 400–500 species, often known as sedums, or stonecrops, and is a member of the Crassulaceae family, which is distinguished by plants with thick, succulent leaves. Many of these species are commonly used as garden plants. Stonecrop refers to a group of plants that not only withstand dry, rocky soil but actually thrive in it. Sedums grow to a height of between 2 inches and 3 feet. While some species do well in warmer temperatures, others are only hardy up to USDA hardiness zone 3. Sedums can be annual or perennial, but they are all fleshy succulents. Sedums function so effectively in arid environments because they retain moisture in their leaves. All sedums have flowers, but they are mostly grown for their foliage, which has fascinating green hues that are uncommon in most other plants.
All sedums are incredibly simple to grow and multiply, and the only way to hurt them is to overwater them or place them in soil that is too wet. A single branch or even a leaf inserted into the ground will immediately take root and grow into a new plant with upright variations. Low-growing sedums are excellent ground cover plants because they quickly cover the ground, are not invasive, and have shallow root systems that make them simple to remove.
For your ground cover requirements, here are 10 sedum, or stonecrop, varieties to take into account.
Fun Fact
Many of the plants marketed as sedums are no longer considered sedums in the botanical sense. Plant biologists routinely shift species to new genera, and on occasion they will eject plants from an excessively big genus and create a new one specifically for them. Sedum is one such group of plants, in which several common species have been reassigned to new genera, even though they’re often still referred to as sedums in the horticultural trade. For instance, the well-liked sedum “Autumn Joy” is now officially known as Hylotelephium “Autumn Joy.”
Succulents and sedums can be planted together.
To benefit from the range of forms and textures, think about combining sedum with echeveria and hens and chicks. Morris shows how to use these succulents to plant a pot.
Take a container that is broader than it is deep to begin with. Use a well-draining potting mix made for growing cactus or succulents because succulents don’t fare well in overly rich soil.
Echeveria lauii, a waxy blue-gray variety with peachy-rose blooms, is the first selection Morris plants. Before planting, he gently teases the roots to encourage them to spread and thrive. Then he adds ‘Angelina’ sedum, spider-web hens and chicks, and a black echeveria.
After planting, additional dirt is poured and the root balls are firmly pressed into the ground. To allow for watering, the soil should be placed just half an inch below the lip of the container.
Morris enjoys using beautiful stone pebbles to give the vegetation in containers a polished appearance. However, it also has another purpose—holding the succulents above the soil line to save them from rotting. Succulents should be watered every few days when they are in bloom and less frequently in the winter. Enjoy your container indoors once the October chill sets in.
Can sedum be grown indoors?
Sedum is rapidly gaining popularity as an indoor plant. Stonecrop is tolerant of an indoor environment even in the worst circumstances. The sedum may survive inside with a little extra care. For sedum to thrive, full sun and warmth are essential. The hues in its leaf will pop with lots of sun. Avoid placing the plant near a north-facing window because it requires at least six hours of sunlight every day. Stonecrop will flourish in a container with drainage holes that allow the soil to dry up and drain effectively. The optimal environment for the sedum is a warm, sunny space.
Watering
Sedums can withstand droughts but still require some water. They thrive when watered often from spring to fall. Water deeply, then let the soil air dry before adding more water. For the first few weeks, young Sedums will require additional water to grow roots. In many places, established plants merely require rain. When watering, avoid getting the leaves, stems, and flowers wet. Water your plants sparingly during the winter to prevent shriveling.
Plants cultivated in containers frequently need more water than their equivalents planted in open soil.
Fertilizing
Sedums typically just need a balanced organic fertilizer every spring. Feeding is not required as long as the plants are separated annually and given new soil.
Repotting
Sedums in containers do need a similar amount of maintenance to those in gardens. When your plants outgrow their present pot, repot them by transferring them to a larger container that will better hold the plant. Sedum repotting is best done in the spring. Before starting the repotting process, make sure the soil is dry.
Pruning
If Sedum plants are not going too wild and out of control, pruning is not required. After the winter, you can tidy them up a little by removing any dead or broken branches or leaves.
Where should sedum plants be planted?
Sedum, often known as “stone crop flower,” thrives in full to part sun. While creeping varieties can thrive in partial shade, taller hybrids require full light for the finest flowering.
Soil: Sedums prefer a pH range of neutral to slightly alkaline soil that is extremely well-drained. Root and stem rot can result from wet, heavy clay.
Tall growing sedums should be spaced 1 to 2 feet apart. Depending on the kind and how rapidly you want it to fill in an area, space low-growing, creeping sedums 6 to 12 inches apart.
Sedums should be planted in the spring after the risk of frost has passed. Till the end of the summer, you can still plant transplants in northern regions. Planting season is spring or fall in drier regions.
What distinguishes succulent plants from sedum plants?
To illustrate our argument, we chose these five sedums for a group portrait. Despite the fact that two of them (the “Pork and Beans” plants on the left) are identical cultivars, none of them resemble one another. Sedum has several hundred species, and there are numerous cultivars with various colors, sizes, and shapes. Sedums fall under all of those classifications, including those for shrubs, ground coverings, indoor plants, and perennial flowers.
Is the cactus you’re growing a sedum? Then it:
- Flowers.
- has flowers with five petals.
- rarely develops woody stems.
- is evergreen.
The sedums we selected all have one thing in common: if you provide them with the ideal growing circumstances, they will all thrive both indoors and outdoors.
How to cultivate sedums inside:
- Sedums should be watered once or twice a month and potted in cactus mix to provide drainage.
- In a location with filtered sun, plant sedums (direct sun can burn their leaves).
- The foliage of sedums can be silvery blue, rich green, or burgundy in color. Succulents with vivid green leaves are more likely to grow indoors than those with blue, gray, or purple leaves. See 9 Secrets to Growing Succulent Plants Indoors for additional information on this topic.
Sedum plant care instructions:
- Sedums can be grown as perennial ground covers, shrubs, and flowering plants in USDA growing zones 5 to 9.
- Sedums should be planted in flower beds, either at the front of the border if they are creepers or mixed in with late-season perennials and ornamental grasses if they are taller or shrubbier.
- Sedums that can withstand droughts do best in the sun or partial shade (however the amount of sunshine may change the color of the leaves).
- Pork and beans are a good example of a crop that requires well-drained soil.
Sedum spreads quickly, right?
Sedums can survive in less-than-ideal environments, therefore the author covers a stone wall with a variety of them (identified in chart below).
A creeping sedum may be the ideal plant for you if you want something attractive that can survive with almost complete neglect. Sedums show off where many other plants would be afraid to tread. For instance, they settle in the crevices of a garden wall or pathway, on roofs or the tops of birdhouses with slightly sloping roofs, or even under huge trees where their gigantic roots control the majority of the soil’s moisture. Additionally, they function well in borders, containers, and rock gardens.
Many gardeners have started looking more closely at plants in the genus Sedum as seasonal and protracted droughts become more frequent across the United States. The ground-hugging relatives of Sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ which is well-known for its late russet blooms, are also gaining popularity.
In my yard, creeping sedums, often called stonecrops, provide endless fascination. Over the course of my many years as a gardener, they rank among the most adaptable, drought-tolerant, and simple-to-grow perennials I’ve ever grown. Sedums really require less work from a gardener as their area grows. These slow-growing plants, which are renowned for their propensity to spread swiftly, prevent weeds from taking root. Since they eventually just fade away, it is not required to deadhead the spent blooms, but it is simple to get rid of old blossoms using a string trimmer. They rarely contract illnesses or pests as long as they aren’t overwatered.
Even the poorest soil may support sedums, and small amounts of soil are really their preferred medium. However, the key to cultivating them is proper drainage. A sedum will be quickly killed by excessive wetness, especially standing water, which will accomplish what no drought can.
Even in the driest conditions, sedums practically never need further water after they are established. Sedums function admirably almost anyplace as long as they receive proper drainage, but they are particularly well suited for gardens in hot, arid regions like the western United States. They can also be found sticking up from boulders or sprouting from only a few inches of scree in cold, alpine environments where they are widespread. For almost every USDA Hardiness Zone, there is at least one Sedum species. The majority of creeping sedums can tolerate little shade but prefer full sun. Native to North America, Sedum ternatum is one sedum that prefers shade and a little bit more moisture than its relatives.
Creeping Sedums
Hardiness: The Northern Hemisphere’s Sedum genus has more than 400 species of succulent annuals, perennials, biennials, subshrubs, and shrubs. Sedums are commonly grown as creeping ground coverings. Each USDA Hardiness Zone has at least one species that can withstand it. Most thrive in Zones 4 through 9. OUTLINE: Five-petaled flowers in shades of yellow, white, or pink lie above mats of succulent leaves that range in color from green to blue-gray to reddish bronze. In the winter, the leaves of evergreen species take on colours of crimson and russet. PROPAGATION: From spring to midsummer, propagate plants by division or seed in the spring or fall. Plant in rock gardens, walls, recesses in walkways, and pots. You may also use it as a border edging or in sweeps on slopes. The majority of creeping sedums like full sun, although they can also tolerate little shade. They prefer medium to poor garden soil that drains well; once they are established, no additional watering is required. They cannot endure any amount of time in standing water.
The author’s favorite sedums
Except for S. ternatum, all of these exceptional sedums prefer full sun or mild shade. The numbers in the chart that come before the name in the image below provide a key.
First S. album
2. S.’s “Murale” album
S. divergens 3.
S. ewersii 4.
S. kamtschaticum (5)
S. kamtschaticum (6)
S. reflexum 7. (S. rupestre)
‘Rose Carpet’ 8.
S. sexangulare 9.
S. spurium, “Fuldaglut” 10.
S. spurium “John Creech,” 11.
S. stenopetalum 12.
S. ternatum 13.
Creeping sedums change from season to season
Creeping sedums are attractive for their dependability and lack of fussiness, but I’m also drawn to them for their succulent leaves, lengthy flowering cycles, and, in some cases, year-round attractiveness in the garden. Sedum blooms often come in little, star-shaped clusters that range in color from white to yellow to purple to pink, and are no larger than an inch in diameter and 4 to 5 inches tall. The carpets of blossoms they generate when planted in large numbers are stunning. Many evergreen sedums, such as Sedum album “Murale” and Sedum stenopetalum, blush to a rich red or bronze color in the fall and even throughout the winter. These stunning contrasts to an otherwise inert landscape last until early spring. They look particularly lovely on a snowy background.
One of the simplest plants to grow from seed, cuttings, or divisions is the sedum. Stem cuttings or divisions will guarantee the maintenance of a plant’s traits once you’ve found one you like because sedums don’t always grow true from seed. Sedums spread quickly, yet they are not invasive. They are easily lifted and transported because of their thin roots. As long as there is adequate drainage, they may survive the winter in most planters and come out of dormancy in the early to midspring.
I complained as I pulled boulders from the cultivated sections of my father’s fields as a young child working on the family farm in northeastern Maryland. In a fitting irony, decades later I still wander the same fields looking for fascinating stones to use as backdrops and accents for my ever-growing collection of sedums.
A few ways to use creeping sedums
Sedums that are resilient make lovely staples. In a section of my rock garden, I utilize a lot of sedums to simulate a cascade. You can blend several sedums, such as the white-flowered Sedum album, the S. grisebachii, and the yellow-flowered Sedum sexangulare (foreground, first photo below) (background). They perform well in a region that can be seen from above.
These year-round, low-maintenance plants are ideal for containers. You won’t need to bring the pots indoors for the winter because creeping sedums do well in containers. Additionally, because of their drought tolerance, you won’t need to locate someone to water them while you are away. Sedums, like the yellow-flowered S. sexangulare (Sempervivum spp. and cvs., Zones 410, second photo below), can be used as underplantings or in combination with other succulents like hens and chicks.
Make stepping stones or rock walls’ sharp edges softer. Within cracks in a stone wall or between stepping stones, sedums, like S. spurium ‘Fuldaglut,’ grow with almost no soil (third photo, below). Use small, mature seedlings, usually referred to as plugs, and combine with some fine gravel and soil.
Utilize a patchwork of sedums to tame a difficult terrain. Maybe you have a spot where gardening and lawn mowing have never worked well together, like a hillside with compacted soil. It might be the perfect place to use creeping sedums, like the pink-flowered S. spurium ‘John Creech’ and others, to intertwine regions of color and texture. The “quilt will vary three times a year as the sedums exhibit the colors of their early-season foliage, then their blossoms, and finally their winter leaves in various tones.