| Where the garden meets the wild | ||
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RHODIOLA, SEDUM AND THEIR ALLIES ROSEROOT, STONECROP Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family) 红景天属 Hong jing tian shu 景天属 Jing tian shu |
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Rana aurora, the Red-legged frog, lounges on a bed of Sedum oreganum in our garden. Photograph © Pat Woodward. |
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These succulent plants make excellent
groundcovers and green roofs. In bloom or out, their texture is fascinating.
What's the difference between Sedum and Rhodiola? Aha. Very generally, and without a magnifying glass, both have fleshy leaves, but Sedum has fibrous roots, makes an all-over pattern of small rosettes, and blooms on special flowering stalks. Rhodiola has its roots on a woody caudex, rises in stems from a single rosette, and blooms at the top of each stem. Sedum can be propagated from individual leaves; Rhodiola cannot. |
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Photograph © Dorrie Woodward
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Rhodiola
rosea Linnaeus, syn. Sedum integrifolium. Roseroot.
Golden root. 红景天
Hong
jing tian (Chinese). This super-hardy,
circumboreal succulent thrives in alpine runoff. Claims are made that it contains unique chemicals with powerful
medicinal properties. In 5 minutes on the web you can read that it's an
antioxidant, lowers blood pressure, increases stamina, combats hypoxia,
mobilizes stubborn fat, stops depression, reduces
stress, improves memory, fights Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and
bolsters sexual performance. In China, the roots are sold in street
markets and hip young people drink "Rhodiola cola" from cans. We make no claims for Rhodiola rosea except that it is handsome and easy
in the rock garden, given adequate water. Our plants descend from
root cuttings and seeds collected at several high alpine sites in British
Columbia and Washington state. Height 10 cm (4"). Zone
1.
Pot (10 cm / 4") or equivalent tube. In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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Scanned image © Paige Woodward
Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Rhodiola
wallichiana
(Hooker) S.H. Fu.
粗茎红景天
Cu jing hong jing tian
(Chinese). An
unusual and attractive succulent for the rock garden. Narrow,
serrated leaves, shiny and dark green on top, paler below, are borne
on 18-cm (7") stems that first recline, then bend casually upward,
bearing yellow-green flowers that bloom with us in May-June. The stems,
rising from a single point in a rosette, are usually 4 to 6 in number and
turn red if grown in full sun. We amputated the stem shown here for ID and
it was soon replaced by 5 shorter ones. Our mother seeds were collected in
Yunnan as ARGS 0518. Height overall with us is about 10 cm (4").
Hardiness is unknown but they have wintered outdoors here for several
years in wet Zone
6.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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| Sedum album Linnaeus. | ||
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Sedum
cauticola Praeger, syn. Hylotelephium cauticola.ミセバヤ
(Japanese).
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Sedum
dasyphyllum Linnaeus.
The Latin name translates as "thick-leaved," and of course the
leaves are plump; the sky is blue, too. This plant has tiny leaves of an
arresting turquoise and will mound up in small, textured hummocks. Its
white flowers have pink buds. Charming! Its main virtue in the
garden is sometimes considered a vice: Leaves will crumble off at the
slightest disturbance, each speck of turquoise confetti capable of
starting a new plant. So you can produce a groundcover, or fill in between
between stepping stones, quite quickly. But this is no strangler fig or
kudzu. If you don't want a turquoise carpet, new plantlets are easy to
weed out.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Sedum divergens
Sereno
Watson. Spreading stonecrop.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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| Sedum integrifolium. | ||
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| Sedum lanceolatum
Torrey. Spear-leaved stonecrop.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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| Sedum oreganum
Nuttall.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Sedum spathulifolium
Hooker
Celadon green form. This is the classic form of this variable species. Our plants descend from cuttings collected on Thetis Island in
British Columbia, where it grows not only in baking sun in sandy soil but
on steep sandstone cliffs in cool shade. Zone 5, perhaps colder.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Sedum spathulifolium
Hooker
Cape Blanco form. This is a chalky,
grey-green form of the species with fairly tight rosettes. Examples from
Cape Blanco, Oregon, were given the cultivar name 'Cape Blanco.' The same
form is found elsewhere, however. Our plants are from Thetis Island stock.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Sedum spathulifolium
Hooker
Winter-red form.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$5.00; elsewhere US$4.50. |
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| Sedum stenopetalum
Pursh. Wormleaf
stonecrop.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). In Canada C$6.00; elsewhere US$5.50. |
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| This page was updated Oct. 12, 2006 | ||
