Sedums, sedums, and more sedums will start to propagate and continue on and on. Also known as stonecrop, they are extremely versatile plants. They grow well in perennial borders, containers, and in rock gardens and maybe that is why they are also called stonecrop. Their thick, fleshy succulent leaves and colorful blossoms make them stand out and look so very attractive in most any garden.
Sedums come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, from tiny to tall. A great ground cover in dry, sunny locations is a low-growing type called golden stonecrop and white stonecrop that form moss-like mats spreading quickly. Sedums in rock gardens fit nicely into a small niche or scramble over rocks and then hang as they grow on and on. The taller species (Sedum maximum with greenish flowers, Sedum telephium with red-purple flowers, and Sedum sieboldii with pink flowers and blue-green leaves) make perfect accents for borders with a lot of sun.
Most sedums are easy to grow, do not take much effort to care for and thrive in sunny areas where the soil drainage is good. All of the sedums mentioned above are hardy to Zone 4. They're drought tolerant and not picky about soil fertility or pH.
Propagating sedums is very easy. One way is by tip cuttings. You will need is a pair of pruning shears and a plastic tray or pot filled with a soil mix that will drain well using equal parts of potting soil and sand. There's no need for rooting hormones or humidity tents. From the tip of the stems, snip sections with three or more leaves into pieces three to four inches long. Take off the bottom two leaves of these sections and then push the cuttings into the moistened soil mix. The exposed nodes (the points where the leaves join at the stem) should be below the surface of the mix. The new roots will emerge from these nodes. Water the cuttings and set them in a shady place. Check the soil mix often and water just enough to keep the cuttings from drying out. In about three weeks the sedums will root. Gently tug on a cutting to check. If you feel resistance, roots have developed.
In six to eight weeks after starting them, cuttings are ready for transplanting. Carefully pull the cuttings out of the pot they have been growing in and plant them directly into the garden or in container pots.
If you are new to sedums, try starting with Sedum 'Ruby Glow'. It's very easy to grow, hardy, widely available, and looks very pretty. The foliage is a silvery blue with reddish undertones around the edges of the leaves. In late summer it produces clusters of intensely pink-red flowers. 'Ruby Glow' grows to about eight inches tall and will look very attractive as an edging plant for a perennial border.
