Succulents are some of the most versatile and easy plants to care for in the garden. They require little water and average to sandy soil. If given the right amount of light they pretty much take care of themselves!
They can be planted up to fill an old leaky birdbath to create a riot of texture and colour. They can be used vertically in a frame to create living art. They can grace the gravelly, dry soil at the end of your driveway and they can more than hold their own in a perennial bed!
The flowers of many sedums are well loved by pollinators and you will often find butterflies and native bee species hovering around the flowers. Succulents are some of my favorite go-to plants for garden design. Here is my list of fun and easy go to succulents… or as I like to call them, the illustrious eleven!
Chinese Dunce Cap
Orostachys iwarenge
This entertaining little succulent grows to about 5-6 inches in height and about 10 inches wide. The little rosettes begin to flower and form little caps. It is a lovely blue-ish grey with some pink overtones. Each rosette that flowers dies back but other non-flowering rosettes will become next year’s crop. Can be hardy to zone 6 with very well- draining and almost dry conditions but I think it might get too wet here in the winter as I haven’t had much luck overwintering it. It’s a lot of fun especially in planters or planted in broken halves of pottery and mixed with other succulents. Even if it is too wet here to overwinter it (I’ll try it this time under an overhang), will definitely add it again next spring!
Cebenese Cobweb Houseleek
Sempervivum arachnoidium ‘Cebenese’
THIS is a hardy must have…especially for any upcoming Halloween planters!! This Hen and Chick plant looks like it is covered in cobwebs. It is AWESOME paired with Dragon’s Blood Sedum! It has been gracing the nooks and crannies by my steps for a few years now. When you get the odd baby hen and chick, I just stick the little rosette onto the ground and away it grows. Hardy to zone 4, Sempervivum arachniodium loves a dry, average, neutral to slightly alkaline soil in a sunny spot for best colour. It grows 3-6 inches in height and about 12 inches wide. Evergreen.
Dragon’s Blood Sedum
Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’
This is a tough-as-nails sedum that forms a low dense mat in poor and dry soil. The bright red flowers and the greenish with purple red edging of the leaves add a fantastic colour contrast against the other lighter coloured succulents. This plant is hardy to zone 4, for infertile, dry sites in the sun.Evergreen.
Baby’s Tears Sedum
Sedum album chloroticum 'Babys Tears'
Not only does this plant have an awesome name but it is amazingly cool. It has attractive little round leaves in a fresh glossy green that will form a dense carpet and drape down over the sides of the pot. There are more than enough of these little ball-like leaves which are as addictively fun to squish as bubble wrap! It is hardy to zone 4 and has delicate little white flowers in late spring to summer. I love using this little sedum in a container mixed with other plants and grasses at the containers edge to highlight the cascading effect or in rockeries or stepped gardens. It grows in full sun and grows to about 3-4 inches in height and about 12 inches wide. Evergreen.
Sedum ‘Lime Zinger’
This is an attractive floriferous new sedum with a compact habit and great fresh lime coloured green leaves edged in burgundy. It forms almost a mat of pinky white flowers later summer. It grows to about 6 inches high and forms clumps approximately 18 inches wide. Grow in full sun, in average, well draining soil. Hardy to zone 4.
Sempervivum 'black'
Another favourite hen and chick selection with a rich burgundy red edging, to complete burgundy in the sun. So don’t ask me why it is called 'black' hens and chicks. Maybe they named it at night. If you want to make a sempervivum quilt groundcover in your garden it is a lot of fun to mix it with the cobweb hens and chicks. Hardy to zone 4. Plant in full sun in average well drained to dry soil. Evergreen.
Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’
Another fantastically coloured succulent to mix in a succulent planter is Sedum 'Angelina'. Also awesome if you have a face container…it kind of looks like golden medusa hair. In early summer it is a bright lime chartreuse and then with more sun it becomes a golden yellow and then golden yellow with red edging at the end of summer and into fall. If you thought that was enough, you thought wrong…it also has clusters of starry yellow flowers in summer too! This clumping groundcover sedum grows to about 4-6 inches in height and will spread to about 18 inches. It is hardy to zone 5 and will grow in full to part sun in well-draining average soil. Evergreen.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
This lovely, taller growing sedum graces my perennial garden. I actually do a little pinching back of this succulent in late spring when it is about 6 inches tall, that way I get a more compact floriferous plant. If you want taller you can skip this step. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is a reliable and beautiful later summer and fall bloomer. The blooms are held above the plant like broccoli and are a dusky pink. They work well with the gentle grey green of the leaves and are absolutely spectacular when paired with Rudbeckia and Perovskia for a fall display. Plant in full sun in an average well drained soil. It will grow to about 2 feet tall and wide and is hardy to zone 3.
Sedum ‘Red Cauli’
This lovely sedum variety forms mounds of silvery olive-grey leaves which give rise to pink-red clusters of flowers in late summer. Flowers are held above the foliage on slender burgundy stems. A breathtaking flower display! It grows to about 12 inches high and about 2 feet wide. It is hardy to zone 4. Plant in sun in well drained soil.
Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’
This sedum makes a pretty awesome startlingly powdery grey-green mat of tiny leaves which create amazing contrast against the starry sunshine-yellow flowers in later summer. This evergreen succulent needs a very well draining site in the winter. It grows to about 2-3 inches high and forms a mat about 18 inches wide. It is hardy to zone 6. Evergreen.
Sedum reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’
Another great Medusa-haired specimen. This sedum forms little succulent ‘branches’ that look like small evergreens. It forms a mat of blue-green leaves with yellow flowers held above the leaves in later summer. The blue leaves become tinged with red in cooler weather. A great groundcover sedum or lovely hanging over the side of a planter! Hardy to zone 4. Plant in sun in a very well drained average soil. Evergreen.
These are just a few of the many great sedums and succulent available at Art's Nursery. Drop by today and check them out. Our selection is always changing so call ahead, 604.882.1201, if you are looking for a specific variety.