In the fall of 2006 I purchased a perennial sedum for the garden and it was trampled. Instead of picking up the pieces and throwing them I just turned some soil over on them and forgot about the broken pieces of the plant. In April 2007 while doing some spring cleaning in the garden, I happened to unearth one of the stems as I laid on the ground watching some bugs go back and forth through the garden.
By the spring of 2007 the stem I had buried and forgotten about was mostly dead. Life remained, in the form of this tiny shoot emerging from one leaf nodes. I blogged about it at the time and posted the picture you see to the right.
When I realized that the "cutting" had survived the winter freeze and was trying to grow, in spite me, I decided to plant it in the garden and give it a chance. Who can resist free plants?
This is what that little sedum shoot looked like in the garden this past summer. It is almost a third of the size of the parent plant it came from two years ago. This plant was practically free. Experienced gardeners and indoor gardeners who grow a lot of succulent plants may see this and be unimpressed. Succulent plants, like this sedum, are extremely easy to from cuttings. I've blogged about propagating my indoor succulents before, here and here, yet I can't look upon this plant and not be impressed. I'm not impressed with my gardening "skills" because I did nothing-- I'm impressed with the plant and with nature as a whole. Gardening and plant propagation isn't hard... plants can do it all on their own. Some lessons you can't get from garden books, garden blogs or even garden television shows. Some gardening lesson you just have to experience on your own by getting your hands dirty and sometimes by laying on the ground to observe the garden.
I love sedum, the way it happily greets you in the spring, loves you tenderly in the summer and winks at you vibrantly in the fall, just before it dozes off for its winter’s sleep.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was the most poetic comment ever left my an anon visitor. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSedum rock! I love how their basal leaves look like sweet little cabbages.
ReplyDeleteI love Sedums, too. By coincidence, they are the topic of the day at my blog as well.
ReplyDelete@Monica,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed that before, but now that you mention it, they do! Thanks for pointing that out.
@Karen,
Great minds and all that. I've scheduled a post to publish on Adeniums tomorrow, how about you? LOL.
Hi Mr.BrownThumb! I am also a sedum fan. What a variety of plants in that family! I did purchase a couple of non-hardy varieties last Spring... and I forget the reasoning behind the purchase. They're lovely, but they're indoors this Winter. Now what? ha! I'll be posting later. ;-)
ReplyDeleteShady,
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone needs a reason to buy sedums, they're rad enough to not need justification for growing in the garden.
Sedums are awesome plants for propagation novices. Last fall I brought home some cuttings from a client's garden after cutting everything back. The cuttings were destined for a yard waste bag. I stuck them in the garden, thinking there wasn't enough season left for them to root. I was wrong - most of them came back in the spring. Mine are still small, not getting much sun and all, but the fact they made it through the winter after such a short time to root was pretty amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteYours looks wonderful - I love your photography.
I miss the beautiful big sedums in my Illinois garden of the early to mid 90s. Autumn Joy, I think; they were already growing in the front flower bed when we moved in. How much you want to bet they're still thriving? The homeowner before us and the ones who bought our house were not gardeners by any means, but sedums can survive just about anything as you've pointed out, MBT. I don't know if I'd try lying on the ground here to observe things. Those darn fire ants!
ReplyDelete@Evelyn,
ReplyDeleteThank you. Visited your blog and had to share that cacti picture on Facebook. What a cool shot.
@SSGardenGirl,
You're so right about them being easy plants for novices. Thanks for the compliment, means a lot.
@Walk2Write,
Good point. We don't have fire ants, so I guess maybe you should take a tarp or blanket if you decide to lay on the ground in your garden. :0)
The second picture of flowers looks awesome. I have never seen such flowers ever. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDelete