Meet the Showy Stonecrop

Showy Stonecrop | Hylotelephium spectabile

How do you know it’s me?:

• I am a small perennial succulent, with a clumping form.

• I have smooth, fleshy “succulent-type” leaves that circle around my stem of a similar texture.

• My leaves are typically green or blue-green in color, have blunted toothed edges, and often have a “frosted” look. Some varieties have red-tinted foliage.

• Oftentimes, my leaves have a cupped shape. They are opposite or whorled around the stem.

• My pink blooms consist of a bundle of tiny, star-like flowers.

• I grow in dense clumps.

How big do I grow?: 1’ - 2’ height and spread.

Sun-seeker or shade-lover: Full sun to part shade.

Where I prefer to put my roots: Well-drained to dry soils are where I thrive. I dislike overly moist and fertile soils and am well adapted to drought.

Hardiness: Zone 4-9

Original home: I am native to China and Korea.

Colors: Shades of pink.

When I bloom: Summer to fall.

Wildlife friends: Butterflies and bees visit my flowers and then often catch the sunshine on my sturdy, broad leaves.

Flora Fun Facts: Like many succulents, I enjoy dry and rocky soils and thrive on very little. It was in my original Asian homeland that I was also used medicinally to heal wounds and reduce inflammation.

More Info: These fleshy fellas are an exceedingly useful plant, providing color and texture to the dry garden, and thriving in areas where water and fertility might be limited. Their dense, flat-topped blooms last for months in the heat of the summer.

• A member of the Crassulaceae family, the family hosting plants from the common household succulent to the stonecrops that bring color and character to gardens everywhere.

• In its native habitat, Showy Stonecrop can be found growing among the stones in rocky areas.

• Formerly known as Sedum spectabile.

• Ideal components of a perennial garden, rock garden, container garden, etc. It is also salt tolerant.

• In places where water is an especially precious resource, xeriscaping is a practice to add beauty and variety to a landscape without the need for irrigation beyond what the natural climate provides. Stonecrop plants provide pollinator value, seasonal interest, texture and color to landscapes such as these, without requiring much water or soil fertility.

• Cutting back the stems in early spring helps these plants maintain their bushy shape and outstanding pink flowers, year after year.

• This plant is easily propagated by stem cuttings.