Making More of What I Have

It's been awhile since I've written anything down, at least here on the blog. I have a thick spiral notebook I carry around with me that acts as a sort of 'memory annex'. Believe me I need something to help me remember my thoughts and what I did today.

Anyway, lately I've gotten the bug on to learn as much about propagation as I can. The garden is going on six years old now, at least the first several beds are, and those plants that have survived my learning process are really doing well. So, I decided to see if I can make more of them.

Sedum - aka Stonecrop - seemed the obvious choice to start since they can root in just about anything. I have some Sedum 'Autumn Joy', 'Improved Golden', and 'Red Carpet' that have all been wonderful performers that I can always find room for more - even if I have to dig new beds.

Autumn Joy is full bloom is a rather large plant for Sedum

Autumn Joy is one of my favorite Sedum, the 'blossoms' are creamy ivory at first and then slowly goes through a steady progression of reds - pink, cherry, rose, russet, copper and finally dark mahogany.

This one is six years old and stands 12-15" tall.

They say these get floppy and need to be pinched at the top but I haven't had any problem with it, except it doesn't multiply fast enough for me.



Sedum 'Red Carpet' has quickly become a mainstay in my garden. It, like the 'Autumn Joy' doesn't spread very fast and for the life of me I cannot understand it being referred to as a ground cover, but it is. I love the deep, dark red of this plant. This one is three years old last month and it has spread out from 4" across to about 18". Not really fast for ground cover status but I do like it 'non-aggressive' nature.

Sedum 'Golden Improved' is one of the most beautiful sedums I know. Bees love this plant so much that they completely ignore all other plants around it. The plant looks like it is vibrating from the number of bees that this plant attracts.

This one blooms in Spring while other sedum typically bloom in Fall. Its masses of yellow star-shaped flowers and rich green scalloped leaves make it one of my all-around favorite plants. And it is drought tolerant.

And here are the cuttings. I snipped each branch about 4-6" long, stripped off a couple of leaves from the bottom - this is where the new roots will emerge - firmed them in a little into potting soil and put the whole box in a shady area. Make sure they stay moist and new roots should appear in about 3 weeks. I'll keep them where they are until a cloudy day and transplant them into the new homes.

The Red Carpet already had roots on them when I snipped the stems.