Sedums are very easy to propagate as almost any tiny leaf or piece of stem that touches the ground will root. Some types become rather invasive but are easy to control since the roots are never very deep. The only species which has gotten out of hand is the one pictured at right. This plant will freeze but if it remains above 32° every little leaf and seed will sprout, forming a dense ground covering. Although the plant pictured here is green, the tiny sprouts are orange, acquiring their green color with age. The plant is also very brittle and falls apart at the slightest touch so removing it is not always a successful venture.

The foliage of sedums can be light silvery gray, bright green, dark green, bluish or even red. This can vary depending on the amount of sun or the coolness of the temperatures. Sedums have small, 5-pointed flowers, varying from white to bright yellow. There are some species with red or pink flowers but they have never grown well for us. Most species seem to bloom in the spring, and at least one native type with very tiny bead-like leaves blooms then completely dies back as soon as it gets hot. We have one larger species, pictured at left, that blooms during the winter.

The sedum at left has the colorful name of "pork and beans" (Sedum rubrotinctum). It is very frost tender Mexican native and survives for us in an area that is covered during the winter. It seems to dislike both cold and high heat.

The two sedums pictured at right are very common in gardens in this area. The smaller species has white flowers and blooms quite frequently after good rains. The larger, bluish-green plants (possibly Sedum forsterianum) hardly ever blooms, but takes the heat very well and is a more substantial plant than most of the small ground covers.

There is one variegated species (see photo at left) that we have had for a number of years, but it doesn't do very well in any of the areas I've put it. Although it seemed to thrive in a shady place for awhile, it was soon overtaken by more aggressive plants. Moving some of it to a drier sunny area has produced bigger stems and leaves, but fewer of them. This species has yellow blossoms.

I don't hesitate to experiment with plants from other parts of the country, especially if they are acquired for free. The sedum in the photo at right is from northern Wisconsin, where it grew in huge mats on rocky garden areas. It does not grow so profusely here but does pretty well for such a climate change. I actually brought back several types of sedum from a Zone 3 location and all have at least survived.

A large, thick type of sedum that is commonly used in this area is pictured at left (possibly Sedum weinbergii). In the shade, the plants grow long stems that snake along the ground as they seem to search for more sun.


The tiny, wiry little sedum pictured at right is one of my favorites. I had a patch of it in a shaded area where it did well for a number of years until other plants grew up around it. Moving some to a sunny, well-drained area proved to be a perfect solution. It grows like grass and must be controlled so that it doesn't overrun the cactuses nearby.