Ready for a profession of unabashed devotion?  Okay, here goes:

I love sedums! 

Over the years, I’ve been steadily adding to my collection of these succulent perennials, tucking them in wherever I can find a spot in my flowerbeds.  This year I put in a White Stardust (Sedum spectabile ‘Stardust’) and a second Matrona (Sedum matrona telephium) in my west-facing bed; late in the season, I also added an (as yet, unidentified) plant that I obtained from my Mom-in-law’s garden.   All are thriving, despite a huge setback to the White Stardust when a hare uncharacteristically decided to do a bit of unselective pruning earlier in the year.  (Usually critters don’t go after sedums, but there’s always a risk around here that ANYTHING with leaves will become bunny fodder).  I’m such a big fan of these plants for many reasons:  tolerant of  poor soils, drought, heat AND cold, sedums come in a huge variety of leaf and flower colours, textures, habits, and sizes.   You seriously cannot get bored with sedums – and collecting them becomes…well…sort of addictive.

My favourite selection, however, remains Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’ (syn. Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’).  It’s nearly November and the mercury is slipping ever downward (we’ve even had a few good hard frosts) – and ‘Autumn Joy’ is in full glory, nestled in among the fallen wine-red leaves of my Engelman ivy.   The large grey-green succulent leaves of ‘Autumn Joy’ are attractive throughout the summer, but it is in late autumn, when the rest of the garden is pretty much finished, that this sedum really expresses itself.  It’s so wonderful to have that last burst of colour and life before winter sets in!

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