Pseudo – Sedum
Green Thumb Sundays
I found this plant about 15 years ago on a rock outcrop growing among the moss that had established a foothold on the bare rock.
I forgaed enough to share with a friend and we established it in our rock gardens. We faced a much more difficult task trying to identify it. There was nothing in our garden books or wildflower field guides that came close to helping. No one we talked to had any idea either of what it was either. It looked like a Sedum and that’s as far as we got. Later it flowered like a Sedum and we were at least confident it was one. That is until it died.
We had never heard of an annual Sedum. So in my ignorance I called it a Pseudo-Sedum one day while talking about it. I didn’t realize I made a pun until my friend started laughing. We still don’t know it’s true name but at least we have a pseudonym for this tiny annual Sedum.
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January 15th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Well, this is a nice mystery! I’m sure someone will be able to key it out. It looks like the S. rupestre types like ‘Angelina’…but then there’s that dying thing! Does it come back each year?
I love plant mysteries! I bet my nonagenarian planthunting friend Dick Steele would know what it is, but I’ll join you in puzzling.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
What a lovely mystery! I love sedums, but I don’t really recognize that one, either. What colors were the flowers when it bloomed?
January 20th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I never had any luck with Sedum–way too hot here, but I think it looks great in between pavers and as a filler in tight spaces. Happy GTS,
Aiyana
January 27th, 2008 at 11:09 am
jodi & Kim
Once it flowers (white) and goes to seed the plant dies. The “babys” in the photo germinated in the fall. Don’t know if it was seed from the previous year or not. I’m pretty sure that some germinate in the spring too but any that are growing at the beginning of the season will go to flower.
They are terrific self seeders. I’ve had them “naturalize” my gardens. They will take hold on almost bare rock.
They are small plants – the “buttons’ grow about an inch high and wide. The buttons going to flower develop into stalks about 3 inch high with white blooms.
Aiyana,
On the bright side you can grow what I can’t.