Sedum: The Joy of Autumn

Fall seemed to come over night, one day its 30 degrees and sunny next its cold, gray skies, and no leaves except for on the ground. In this season we lose all the beautiful colours of summer, and then what? Is there no final fight against the dull colours of winter? Never fear, there is one final weapon in our greenhouse to battle the ever approaching winter. And that weapon is called Autumn Joy Sedum.

This is by far my favorite perennial, have I said that too many times in previous blogs? Oh well, can any gardener truly have only one favorite? Anyway, Autumn Joy. What has this plant done to achieve my continuously given stamp of approval? First point I have been hinting to is the colour. Autumn Joy Sedum has vibrant, large pink clusters of flowers. Autumn joy sedum is a late bloomer, usually blooming between August to November, promising colour for the later seasons when most flowers start to wilt. Another thing I love about it is it structure. This particular sedum has an incredible upright and strong structure meaning that when the large boom heads come out they don’t sag or snap off. This sedum is a shorter perennial, staying around 12 – 24 inches tall and growing into a sort of upside down cone shape. 

Autumn Joy Sedum is also drought tolerant. This perennial does not require much water and will suffer if overwatered. So if you tend to be forgetful about watering in the summer or are just busy and don’t always have time, this perennial is a good option for you! Obviously it requires watering regularly, especially on hotter days but it will need it less frequently. Along with drought tolerance the this perennial is cold tolerant and heat tolerant making it great for our seasonal mood swings going from hot to cold in a matter of hours.

So, great colour, structure, tolerance for most things, is there anything else that could make this plant more perfect? Yes, it attracts butterflies and bees like no other flower I personally have seen. So if you love watching God’s little critters flutter around in your gardens, I highly recommend this beautiful flower!