*Please note that other perennial succulents (such as Hens & Chicks) have been included in this section as they share many of the features.

• Sun to Part Sun
• Plant in well drained soils
• Size, foliage color, bloom color and form vary
• Seasonal features include summer blooms, fall blooms, fall foliage color, and winter interest
• Good for erosion control
• Very heat and drought tolerant

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Arkansas Blue Star – Amsonia hubrichii

It makes sense that this perennial loves our summer heat, given that it is native to Arkansas! The leaves are needle-shapes but soft to the touch.  Each shoot waves gently in the breeze, making it a wonderful texture addition to a sunny spot.  This perennial gets its name not only by location but by the blooms; light blue, star-shaped flowers. Another outstanding feature is the fall color it offers; a bright gold! Mature size is 32- 40″ in height and width, making a wonderful option as a background plant in a perennial border garden.

Shasta Daisy – Leucanthemum

So much to love about this perennial, not the least of which include abundant, bright white blooms that stand strongly above medium green leaves. There are taller growing varieties like Becky (grows to several feet tall) and smaller growing ones like Christine, which tops out around 10 inches in height. Width varies by variety as well; clumps can be divided and shared with friends. Shastas are long lasting cut flowers too!

Sedums

Sedums have been around forever but there are constant additions to these garden favorites! These are perennial succulents, whose leaves store water, making them very heat and drought tolerant once established.  Some varieties are low growing groundcovers (like Lemon Ball and Lime Zinger) and some are upright, such as Thundercloud (a more compact and vibrant blooming improvement on Autumn Joy) or Plum Dazzled. Leaf and bloom color vary widely too. Leaves might be lime green, green with colorful edges, variegated, purple, or blue-gray. Blooms may be insignificant or stunning; it all depends on variety! Sedums are perfectly at home in rock gardens.

Meadow Sage – Salvia

This is another genus of perennial that has many variations to choose from!  This one is a Salvia greggi called Heatwave Blaze… and it’s pretty obvious why; that red is blazing red. This one is bigger than some of the other salvias and grows to about 30 inches tall with a width of around 36 inches.  Hummingbirds and other pollinators love this perennial! Heatwave Blaze has a long bloom season; from spring to fall.  May Night is another popular salvia; it features purple bloom spikes above gray-green foliage.  These plants may not look much alike but they do share a very important feature; they both love the heat, bloom for a long time and are wonderful in water wise gardens, due to being drought tolerant once established.

Russian Sage – Perovskia

Both salvias and perovskia are both called sage, they aren’t in the same plant genus although they are both in the mint family. They are both heat and drought tolerant once established though and the plant form and blooms are similar. Russian sage as these gorgeous fern-like, serrated, gray colored leaves on shoots that end in soft lavender purple blooms. Right now, we have Denim ‘N Lace and Sage Advice. Did we mention they are deer resistant?

Hardy Ice Plant – Delasperma cooperi

This low growing groundcover perennial is a perennial succulent, like sedum.  However, Ice Plant features a totally different looking bloom; frilly star-shaped magenta colored flowers that look similar to an aster bloom. It’s very low growing, with a height of only around 2 inches, but spreads out significantly to around 20 inches. As you would guess, this one is drought tolerant as well!

Our perennial department is currently full of these beauties and many more; it’s a wonderful time to stroll through both our sun and shade perennial departments!

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There are many different varieties of sedum; size, foliage color, bloom color and form varies greatly between species. Blooms are star shaped and usually in clusters or sprays. Flower color often changes throughout the season, providing even more visual interest. There are tall plants, offering outstanding blooms for cutting, and groundcover types that do an excellent job or suppressing weeds and even smaller types that do well in pots. Sedums are also often called stonecrop.

How to Grow Sedums

All thrive in full sun without much care. Plant in a garden area or planter that drains well and is in the sun for at least 6 hours each day. Some varieties do find in 4 hours of sun but ones with colorful foliage can lose some of their color is they don’t get enough sun. If the plant roots stay too wet, they can develop root rot so amend heavy soils to increase air flow and drainage. Trim winter damaged foliage off in the spring.

Here are some varieties we have right now (June 2020); inventory changes often so call for availability. Keep reading for detailed information on some of our favorite tough, sun loving sedums!

‘Plum Dazzled’ from the SunSparkler series

Featuring deep plum colored foliage, this sedum contrasts well with a lime green groundcover sedum such as ‘Lemon Ball’ or ‘Angelina’. Sedums in the SunSparkler series have been chosen for their dazzling flower and leaf color. ‘Plum Dazzled’ provides magenta pink flowers during late summer. The blooms attract bees and butterflies.  Not all wildlife likes this plant; it’s deer resistant!

‘Plum Dazzled’ (pictured above) makes a good filler plant in containers. In landscape plantings, plant in mass as a border plant or tuck one in here and there for a colorful accent.

This mounding sedum grows 8-10 inches tall and spreads to 18 inches in width.

‘Lime Zinger’ from the SunSparkler series

Lime green foliage with a crisp ruby red edge sets this sedum apart; and yes, it’s also in the SunSparkler series. ‘Lime Zinger’ is low growing; grows to only about 6 inches in height and 18 inches across, making it a good, hardy groundcover. They also grow just fine in containers. Another great feature, they are rabbit resistant!

Butterfly attracting clusters of hot pink flowers arrive in late summer and last through early fall.

‘Dazzleberry’ from the SunSparkler series

This sedum may look similar to ‘Plum Dazzled’ but there are a few differences.  ‘Dazzleberry’ has a mature height of 6-8 inches, a little shorter than its relative, but growing to the same width of 18 inches. The leaves are also more of a smokey blue-gray color than a plum color. And one of the main differences is the bloom; it blooms earlier and has large raspberry colored flower clusters. The clusters can reach up to 9 inches across!

Like many other sedums, it’s rabbit resistant and this one is resistant to disease issues as well.

‘Lemon Ball’

This one is a little smaller than some others, with a mature size of 4-6 inches tall and a width of 10-12 inches. Despite its diminutive size, the bright chartreuse color packs a big visual punch.  ‘Lemon Ball’ is highly visible in the garden, whether just one plant or a mass planting.  The low height makes it perfect for accenting a taller layer in a perennial border. It also grows well in a container, either mixed with other plants or filling out a class low bowl planter.

Yellow bloom clusters appear in the summer. ‘Lemon Ball’ is deer resistant and has a bit of winter presence here in Central Arkansas.  It’s considered an evergreen in warmer climates.

‘Firecracker’ from the SunSparkler series

This little sedum (6-8 inches tall and wide) has small, burgundy, rounded leaves and a mounding form that cascades gently over the sides of containers or stones.  This is a very dense growing sedum, featuring pink blooms during the late summer and early fall.

We hope you enjoyed learning about these tough, sun loving sedums!

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Sedums are the ultimate drought tolerant plants!  And there are so, so many to choose from!  This one is a cute groundcover that works well between stepping stones and in rock gardens.  These plants are also often called stonecrop, most likely because they seem to be a stone crop! Some varieties like Autumn Joy Sedum bloom, and have some height.  There are many more that have unique colored foliage that are lower to the ground. We would highly suggest this plant for a rocky sun garden area.  As a bonus, it’s really easy to transplant and looks great in planters surrounds other drought tolerant blooming plants such as a Euphorbia.

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