Sedum (stonecrop): species, planting and care

Sedum, or stonecrop, is one of the easiest plants to grow: its fleshy leaves store water, so it copes with heat, drought and poor soil. Garden sedums survive the winter outdoors and flower when most beds have finished, while indoor species decorate windowsills and hanging baskets. Here are the main types of sedum and how to care for them.

Flowers delivered across Kyiv: potted plants and flower baskets.

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About the plant

The genus Sedum belongs to the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, and has around 400–500 species, from tiny ground covers to small shrubs. Most grow in the Northern Hemisphere, with a particularly large number in Mexico. Botanists now place several familiar garden “sedums” in a separate genus, Hylotelephium, but gardeners still call them sedums.

Leaves can be green, bluish, cream, purple or red, and many species blush red at the edges in sun or cold. The small star-shaped flowers are grouped in flat heads — white, yellow, pink or crimson. Sedum is an excellent nectar plant, covered in bees and butterflies in autumn.

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Popular species

For the garden:

• Showy stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile) — clumps 30–50 cm tall with large pink flower heads in September; cultivars ‘Brilliant’ and ‘Stardust’.
• Orpine (H. telephium) — with purple or grey-blue leaves; ‘Matrona’ is a favourite.
• October daphne (Siebold’s stonecrop) — low, with rounded blue-grey leaves and pink autumn flowers; good for rock gardens and containers.
• Two-row, goldmoss, white and reflexed stonecrops — ground covers that form dense mats on rockeries, between paving slabs and on green roofs.

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For the home:

• Burro’s tail (Sedum morganianum) — a trailing Mexican species with long “tails” of blue-green leaves. The leaves drop easily, so handle it as little as possible.
• Sedum pachyphyllum and jelly bean plant (S. rubrotinctum) — compact, with plump leaves that turn red in sun.
• Golden sedum (S. adolphi) — golden-yellow rosettes with reddish edges.

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Planting in the garden

• Position — sunny; in shade the stems flop and colours fade.
• Soil — light, sandy or stony and free-draining. Rich soil and heavy feeding make clumps fall open.
• Timing — spring or late summer. Space showy stonecrop 30–40 cm apart and ground-cover species 15–20 cm.

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Care

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• Watering — moderate, only once the soil has dried out completely. Overwatering is far worse than drought.
• Feeding — garden species need only compost in spring; indoor ones a cactus fertiliser monthly from spring to late summer.
• Winter — garden sedums are frost-hardy; leave the dry heads of showy stonecrop until spring — they look lovely with frost. Keep indoor species somewhere bright and cool (10–15 °C) in winter and water rarely.
• Rejuvenation — divide clumps every 3–4 years or the centre goes bare.
• Propagation — by division, stem and leaf cuttings: in many species even a single leaf will root.

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Sedum in décor

With their huge variety of forms, sedums suit rock gardens, gaps between garden path slabs, living walls and green roofs. Indoors they are used in terrariums, kokedama and mini gardens in cups.

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Safety

Most sedums are of low toxicity, but goldmoss stonecrop irritates mucous membranes and the sap of some species can irritate skin. Keep plants away from children and pets that like to taste everything.

FAQ

Why is my sedum leggy and flopping?

Too little sun, or soil that is too rich and moist. Move it to a sunny spot with poor soil.

Should sedum be cut back for winter?

Not necessarily: the dry heads decorate the garden in winter; cut them back in early spring before new growth.

Can sedum grow on a balcony?

Yes — ground-cover and indoor species thrive in containers on a sunny balcony.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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