My recommendations of the best Stonecrops for landscape plantings

Sedum is the very best drought tolerant plant for groundcovers – textural, colourful and hardy, Sedum, or stonecrops as they’re called, make a tapestry carpet of succulent foliage, with the added bonus of bright blooms in waves over the summer months.

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Sedum is one of the very best plants for bees, attracting many pollinators and honeybees for the nectar and pollen in the starry pink and yellow or white flowers held high over the foliage.

I was astonished when my stock plants in the display garden started to bloom, and the wild bees and many butterflies flocked to them. I’ve had hours of fun watching their activities during most of July and August.

Try planting a butterfly garden to attract many of these gorgeous insects to your xeric garden.

Plant these varieties and species in the worst soil you have, and leave them alone. Requiring minimal care, they thrive on neglect.

Choose from among these Sedum for groundcovers: All are low growing and compact. They form a lovely textural carpet in only a few seasons.

Often, they root all along the sprawly stems, making them super easy to propagate to make a tapestry – simply put a rock in a strategic place (right on top of the stem where you would like the roots to emerge) and let them go to town!

Some are pretty much evergreen, others more deciduous. The deciduous ones lose their leaves in the fall, but look closely near the center of the plant – they already have new growth ready to go in the spring.

One thing that will kill this type of Sedum is poor drainage. The soil can be almost anything but water retentive. Rock walls are their favorite haunt.

Plant all one kind for major impact, or a random assortment for a tapestry. Of course there is an overlap of the different types but these do well grown in the landscape; click on the names for more information about each one.