Mary Boerger

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Since we are now in the autumn season, we will notice an impetus to renew and renovate our garden if needed or to think about trying some new plants, which could benefit from being planted now. The soil is warm and the sun will continue to shine, at least off and on, and the cool air will enable plants to get a good start before wintry weather sets in. Plant nurseries and garden centers are ready with all of the items that may be needed for our plants.

This is an excellent time for planting seeds. Just follow the directions on the package and your efforts should be successful. Of course, the soil should be ready beforehand. If planted now, bulbs will better provide the flowers desired when spring arrives. Planting instructions should be followed, whether you are using bulbs or seeds. After placing the bulbs at the proper depth, seeds or seasonal annuals may be planted over them. When the stems of the bulbs push up through the ground they will be surrounded by pretty flowers. If you have never grown sedum in your garden, you will find it a rewarding venture to try.

This plant loves to grow in our zone. It has hundreds of varieties and most of them do well here. It is a vigorous plant and establishes easily. Because it is a succulent, the sedum has plump and fleshy leaves that are usually evergreen. The plan is cheerful in form and color. The size and shape of the plants vary according to species. Some grow upright with prominent leaves and others are tiny and creeping. Most bloom in summer and fall. They love sunshine but I have found that some will grow in indirect sunlight and tolerate some shade too. They will respond to proper watering but, like succulents of most kinds, they are quite drought resistant. They do need good drainage and don't like to be over-watered.

The popular variety in our area is Sedum spectbile, "Autumn Joy." If you have it growing in your garden, then you know why it has earned its name. This species grows to about two feet and has pretty, puffy leaves that are a light shade of green and, like so many other varieties, are evergreen. The bloom tops the erect stems in a showy cluster of star-shaped flowers which start out pink or rose and, in time, turn to a bronze color. The bloom is long lasting.

A shorter type, Sedum, "Sunset Cloud," has variegated leaves and crimson-purple flowers that give a touch of brilliance in the front of a border. S. "Frosty Morn," has elegant leaves of pale green with light yellow and flowers that are pink-tinged white. S. sieboldi is a true stonecrop that reaches six feet in height and twice as wide. The flowers are not dense but loosely formed and the finely-toothed leaves are a blue green and an inch long. It has a cultivar that has variegated foliage. A type suitable for use in a rockery grows only to two inches high but sprawls from 12 to 18 inches wide. The tiny leaves are overlapping and the flowers are a bright yellow.

Sedum spurium grows two to five inches tall and up to 18 inches wide. It forms a mat-like base and has oval, tooth-edged leaves about one inch long. Curiously, it grows in double rows. The three-quarter inch flowers are a magenta color with orange centers. It has a cultivar with purplish-bronze leaves and bright red flowers. It is aptly named "Dragon's Blood." Another distinctive variety is S. oxypetalum which grows three feet tall and 18 inches wide. It has leaves that are over an inch long in an olive green shade and its flowers are red and aromatic. S. Rhodida rosea is a species that is rather unique in appearance with its plump leaves arranged in the form of a rosette. It is like a candleholder and the cluster of flowers rests in the center like a short candle.

There are many more interesting kinds of sedum that you could grow and might encourage you to become a collector of this plant. Their foliage is cheerful in a garden and the flowers are bright and showy. Best of all, they are easy to grow and long-lasting.

There are many other unusual and exciting plants you may not have tried which you may not know grow successfully in our plant zone. There is not enough space to describe them here, but I will include remarks about them in a future article.