Here's a Sedum Pachyclados. I'm guessing it's normal for it to die back in Winter? Should I just clip it down to the ground now? Or wait til it's completely brown? Or not at all?

Tim, check down at ground level. If you see a bunch of new growth you can cut off all the old stems. The old stems can be put into pots in your cold frame for more starts.

valleylynn said:Tim, check down at ground level. If you see a bunch of new growth you can cut off all the old stems. The old stems can be put into pots in your cold frame for more starts.

Hmmm... I took a look down there and there were a few green buds but I don't know of those are new shoots for the next growing season or if they're just this years remains. I was told by Cynda that this Sedum spreads by underground runners/rhizomes. But exclusively so? I don't know. I wonder if the vegetation above ground is (or soon will be) dead and completely replaced by new shoots that will pop up in Spring. I guess I'll just leave them be and see what the new season brings.

Okay, here is my plan Tim.
I have two clumps. I am going to trim one and leave the other in it's current state.
I will do photos, before and after and their progress.

Mine turned brown and crispy in the summer and never 'came back'

They need a little more water and protection from harsh sun in your area Dirt. What was the time of year you planted them?

I planted it in May of '16. It died in July '17
I'm low on 'protected from the harsh sun spots' for now...but when the trees grow and I start moving the sun worshipers out of the shade...we'll see

Might even try adding some humus rich soil to the planting area.

valleylynn said:Okay, here is my plan Tim.
I have two clumps. I am going to trim one and leave the other in it's current state.
I will do photos, before and after and their progress.

Good idea, I may do the same as I have this stuff both in the front and back of my house. My hunch at this time is that all the above-ground greenery dies completely every year to be replaced by abundant new shoots in Spring. That's just a hunch by taking a look, the proof of the pudding is months away.

It will be interesting to see the results.

I bought this Sedum last summer and it developed some sort of mold or fungus throughout. I figured if that's what it did in summer then it will never handle winter... so I pulled it and pitched it. Low and behold it has somehow begun to regrow. I wonder though, are these Dasyphyllums a bit too delicate for wet climates?

They seem to handle winter weather here. They also seem to have a short window of "Pretty" in my garden. I still grow them and enjoy the pretty season.
Spring and fall


I played out in the raised beds yesterday. The sunshine was amazing.
Here is the first report on the Sedum pachyclados experiment.
The two plantings:
Bed 17 in partial sun


Bed 7 in full blazing sun


I pruned the bed 7 plant because it already looked pitiful.


I laid all the trimmings in one of the holes to see if any of them would root themselves.


Now all that is left is to watch them and see how this trimmed colony does compared to the one in bed 17.

OK, I guess Dasyphyllum gets a second chance to make a go of it.
Nice job, Lynn. There's nothing like an experiment to figure out what's going on. I eagerly await the results.

If you don't already have this one you might want to give it a try Tim. Tough and oh so colorful in fall through spring.


And this one. I need to get a current photo of it, I love the very different coloration it has.

I do have a dasyphyllum that lives
here's a crappy pic of it taken just the other day

I don't know if you can appreciate that dog paw print impression in that depression in it, but that's what happened there

Well that is looking pretty good Dirt, dog print and all.

Can anybody identify this sedum? Don't know where I got it. So far it's growing along a rock. Looks really small as I have to kneel closely to rock to see it. You all know my situation with not enough sun against the condo wall but it's at least out away from a balcony ceiling so gets a little more sun than my other potted sedums. Not sure if this sedum is stretched out a little but it's still a nice shape to use for container planting.

Hi folks,

I hope I am posting my question in the correct forum, but please forgive me if I'm not.

I have an area under an Eastern Redbud tree that receives alot of light. I tried planting Phlox, transcendentia – spiderwort, and dwarf Ruellia there last year, only for everyone to pretty much burn up with our hot summers (we had a number of days where the heat index was in the triple digits). I tried watering about every three days, but by the next afternoon, it was dry again. Probably needed to invest in a soaker hose, but I ended up ripping everyone out earlier this year.

My question to you guys is, does this sound like an ideal spot for Sedums? I would like to have something around the tree, but it sounds like the intensity and duration of the sun (probably coupled with my not soaking the ground well enough) wouldn't be ideal for a more "tropical" perennial, so I'm wondering if Sedum would fit the bill.

If so, do you have any you recommend aside from 'Autumn Joy'?

Hi Hamwild,
Sedum might do well for you. What is the soil like under the tree? Can you post a photo of the area.
How much sun does it get? Does the Redbud tree provided filtered light? How big is the tree?
What height do you want the sedum to be?

@valleylynn,
I'm unsure what the makeup of the soil under the tree is, but here's a picture (it seems kinda sandy/kinda "soil-ish"?). There's some perlite in the picture, but I'm pretty sure that was from me ripping out plants. I believe there's some clay once you go deep enough, but I don't dig too deep considering the tree roots (sorry, there's some mulch in there).



Here's a picture of the area. I mulched to *maybe* an inch thick. There's really not that much mulch, that's about as much as my edging will allow. I'm not doing anything with the outside "circle" (so ignore all that dirt and bits of mulch, I'm going to turn that back to grass ).


Loooooottsss of sun, all day. Afternoon sun is more brutal on the backside of the tree (closest to the house). The tree, when in full leaf, provides no protection at all from the sun (so no to filtered light).

I think the tree is about 15-20 feet tall? I'm not good with measuring! :confused:

Winter and Spring seem to keep the ground pretty moist, would that be an issue for a Sedum? It's when we hit Summer temperatures (90+), I have dry, dry ground.