Showing you the underbelly... | A River of Sedum

So you've heard me mention sedum before, yes?

If not, sedum is the plant that you should start out with as a gardener. It survives anything, but is not a pest. It adds shape and body to your garden and comes in a host of colors. It is a succulent without looking like a spiky cactus. The best of many worlds in my book. Of course, the first time I saw it, I didn't really think much of it (it was winter), but that was before I knew that it was a wonder plant that would create rivers for me without going overboard and eating everything in its path like some other plants we know (yes bindweed...I'm talking to you!)

Sedum is the Jennifer Aniston of the garden.  Add Jennifer to a movie and you are bound to have at least a modicum of success.  It might not be a blockbuster, but no matter how bad the movie is, you are at least going to make a small profit because she is adorable and consistent and everyone likes her.  That is kind of like sedum for your garden.  It looks good almost all year long, and in summer it is just plain cute and it is nothing if not consistent.  People will think you can grow plants well if you have a few sedums because they grow in a pretty clump and grow in any situation.  

One of my favorite times in the life cycle of the sedum is right now in late summer. The flowers are forming on the top of the plant, but aren't showing any color yet. I especially like the flowers on the plants with a more lime green foliage.

All of the plants I am showing you are literally stems about 2-3" tall that I 
jabbed into the ground (literally) either last fall or this spring.  

They are all growing well and thriving.  

So that photo above is the intro to the underbelly.  There were many parts of my garden that were planted beautifully by the previous owner and just needed a little help getting back in shape (like me after baby #1).  There were other parts that were so overgrown with weeds that they needed to be completely gutted and reworked (like me after baby #3).  This is one of those parts that was unsalvagable.  My strategy with these areas is to use sedum and annuals to fight the remaining weeds that would like to come back to their homes.   If you look at the photo below, you'll see the tomato and zucchini plant that take up a good bit of real estate, but will be gone in a few months.  You'll also see two very small blueberry bushes that will grow big and huge.   The rest of this area is going to literally be a river of sedum.  All those beautiful little lime green blossoms all in a giant swath of 2 foot tall glory.  A footpath meanders through this part of the garden and the sides are over 6' tall stands of butterfly bush (to the left) and an unknown bush with berries (to the right).

You see why I call it the underbelly, yes?  

I can't wait for you to see this next year.  

You will run  right out and buy a sedum post haste!

Last night I was reading Fine Gardening in the bathtub (common occurrence) and I ran across this photo:

Now THAT my friends...is a river of sedum... See those two "banks" of summer sedum with the Iris "river" running through it?

Pretty, isn't it? 

NOW GO GROW some sedum!