Thank you ofm.

Good thing this topic came up. I went out to take a photo of my S. pachyclados. Had to hunt for it. It was overgrown by other plants, bone dry and almost dead. I dug it up and put it in one of the raised beds and watered it. It is absolutely pitiful. But it will come back. What a bad sedum mommy I am.


This is what it looked like in July with no moisture.

Lynn is that post missing a before? Or is it just the after? Poor thing! I'm encouraged to hear that it will recover, I'm not sure what to make of mine yet as they are such slow growers.

OK, here are my (recently planted) Sedum (Pachyclados) 'White Diamond's:


And here are my two Sedum Pachyclados <no cultivar name?>. They are very slow growers, and seem to have a new growth pattern that is different from the White Diamonds. Sorry I don't have the vocabulary to describe this yet!




I'm curious if all of mine are white diamonds...will the new ones clump up like the old ones, or will the old ones ever expand more intensely?

And here are the clippings I took that look like Greg's plant (to me):


Unfortunately, they don't really highlight the look of the parent plant. Honestly, the stems reminded me of the stems on my Sedum Forsterianum 'Silver Stone' (which may not be typical, based on other photos on the web). Very long and woody.



Is "stalk woodiness" a typical sign of stress? So much to learn!

Ofm, sad to say that is the 'now' photo. I am just thankful that I found it before it was totally gone.

Are all of your different pachyclados growing in the same area? And have you had them for the same amount of time?

Petrosedum forsterianum does get the bare almost woody like stems as the plant ages. The bottom leaves fall away. I think it is a cool plant because it almost has the appearance of a bonzai plant.

Awww Good catch then!

The 'generic' ones have been in the ground since early June and mid July, respectively. They have barely changed in appearance since I put them in the ground, but seem pretty healthy (especially the second one) I think I purchased them from two separate nurseries - both of which had multiple flats of plants that looked exactly like them.

The 'White Diamond's just went in the ground a week or two ago, and were purchased the nursery where I got the second generic (I think). All the White Diamonds in their flats looked like the ones I have in my pictures, and not much the others. I mean, the leaf shape and coloration looks the same, but the growth patterns seem different to me. Maybe the White Diamonds are hopped up on plant food/drugs? It seems like they would be packaged and sold at roughly the same age/stages?? That being the case, my generics should be older, which I would expect to be equal size at sale time and larger now if that was the pattern? I think I'll take some cuttings from the White Diamonds this weekend and another set from the generics and see how they compare as they grow!

I love the forsterianums too! I'm hoping for a good spot in the yard for some more, but for now I've just got the one in the pot & some cuttings. One of my Blue Spruces has that woody look too...going to have to try mixing those at one point .

The nurseries fertilize and water regularly, which promotes larger leaves and different color.
Usually the first year for these they need to be kept watered to get established. They become more drought tolerant the following year.