The border varieties of Stonecrop are a dependable choice for the late summer and fall garden, offering foliage interest earlier in the season, then a colourful display of flowers in the fall. This Canadian selection is an improvement on the older Autumn Joy, with a taller habit and stronger, less floppy stems. Plants begin to produce green broccoli-like buds in mid-summer, which gradually open into enormous dusty-rose flower heads, finally deepening to rich rusty-red during autumn. Even the dead flower heads have good winter effect. An outstanding cut flower, and also attractive to butterflies. Registered with COPF: royalty required for propagation.
Culture: Easily grown in acidic, average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light shade. Likes sandy or gravelly soils. Tolerates poor soils. Needs good soil drainage to perform well. Drought tolerant. Avoid overwatering. Plants may be sited 12” apart when grown as a ground cover. Easily propagated by cuttings or division. Plants spread easily (root where nodes touch the ground). Cut a leaf from a healthy sedum with about 1-2″ of stem and plant the stem with the leaf above soil. Plants are evergreen in warm winter climates.
Noteworthy Characteristics: Sedum spurium, commonly called Caucasian stonecrop or two row stonecrop, is a low-growing, sprawling, mat-forming sedum or stonecrop that is commonly grown as a ground cover. It is native to the Caucusus. This is an evergreen plant that typically rises only 3-6” tall but spreads to 18-24” wide by creeping, branching stems that easily root at the nodes. Thick, succulent, opposite, obovate, flattened leaves (to 1” long) with wedge-shaped bases are toothed near the ends. Leaves are medium green with reddish-tinged margins. Lower stem leaves are deciduous, but newer leaves near the stem tips are evergreen, typically turning deep burgundy in fall for overwintering. Leaves are arranged in two rows along the stems, hence the sometimes used common name of two row stonecrop. Tiny, 5-petaled, star-shaped, pinkish-red flowers (to 3/4” diameter) in dense, 4-branched inflorescences (to 4-6″ tall) bloom from late spring to mid-summer (June-July in St. Louis) atop upright reddish flower stems. Flowers are attractive to butterflies.
Genus name comes from the Latin word sedeo meaning to sit in reference to the general growing habit of many of the sedums (they sit and sprawl over rocks).
Specific epithet means false. Its use here is unclear.
‘Fuldaglut’ is a low-growing, mat-forming, maroon-leaved cultivar that grows 2-3” tall but spreads to 18” wide. Leaves are attractive throughout the growing season. Foliage is semi-evergreen in St. Louis winters.
Problems: No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails may appear. Watch for scale.
Garden Uses: Rock garden or small area ground cover. Border fronts. Stone wall pockets. Sunny banks or slopes. Edging. Containers. Best when planted in groups or massed as a ground cover.
This selection was the first of many purple-leaved Coral Bells, and is still an excellent choice for towards the edge of the border, or in containers and tubs. Plants form a low mound of maple-shaped leaves, from bronzy-green to rich purple-red. Spikes of small creamy-white flowers appear in early summer. In hot summer areas a part shade location will help to prevent the leaf colour from fading. Evergreen in mild winter areas, but plants may be clipped hard in early spring. Division is not always easy, but can be attempted in spring. A former Perennial Plant of the Year for 1991
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. An adaptable plant that is tolerant of drought, heat, humidity and poor soil. Divide clumps when they become overcrowded (about every 4 years). Plants usually rebloom without deadheading, however prompt removal of spent flowers improves general appearance. Freely self-seeds if at least some of the seed heads are left in place.
‘PowWow Wild Berry’ may be grown from seed, with flowers appearing in the first year about 20 weeks after sowing. In colder climates, start seed indoors in late January.
Echinacea purpurea, commonly called purple coneflower, is a coarse, rough-hairy, herbaceous perennial that is native to moist prairies, meadows and open woods of the central to southeastern United States (Ohio to Michigan to Iowa south to Louisiana and Georgia). It typically grows to 2-4′ tall. Showy daisy-like purple coneflowers (to 5″ diameter) bloom throughout summer atop stiff stems clad with coarse, ovate to broad-lanceolate, dark green leaves. Good fresh cut or dried flower. The dead flower stems will remain erect well into the winter, and if flower heads are not removed, the blackened cones may be visited by goldfinches or other birds that feed on the seeds.
Genus name of Echinacea comes from the Greek word echinos meaning hedgehog or sea-urchin in reference to the spiny center cone found on most flowers in the genus.
Specific epithet means purple.
POWWOW WILD BERRY is a purple coneflower that features large, deep rose-purple flowers in a floriferous bloom from late spring to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost. It typically grows in an upright clump to 2-3′ tall and to 1-1.5′ wide on sturdy, well-branched stems that do not need staking. Each flower (to 3-4″ diameter) features downward-arching, overlapping, deep rose-purple rays which encircle a large orange-brown center cone. Narrow-ovate leaves (to 6” long) are medium green. POWWOW WILD BERRY is a 2010 All-America Selection (AAS) winner.