For those who dibble and hoe, it’s easy to be seduced by a sedum. Although many of the stonecrops are remarkably lovely throughout the growing season, late summer is the ideal time to enjoy the taller varieties. Emerging in spring with fleshy succulent leaves, these sedums will add cooling soft foliage color to flower beds. By the arrival of mid-September, starry flower heads top these clumping perennials. Autumn finds them in lusty, full bloom.

Mix and match the three following favorites to complement leaf color turning in your landscape.

Sedum “Autumn Joy” thrives in full sun with well-drained soil, tolerating both clay and rocky limestone conditions. Flower buds appear in summer with pale green broccoli-like heads. As autumn approaches, the blossoms open pink, turning rosy then coppery-rust as the season advances. The eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly happily lingers atop sturdy stems reaching more than a foot in height.

There is instant attraction to the luxurious purple leaves of the “Blackjack” sedum. Leaves emerge purple-green, but quickly transition to stylish purple-black. The parsley black swallowtail may hide from view more easily on its dark ornamental foliage, but not on the wide pink flower clusters. The color contrasts nicely with the foliage and blossoms of other plants such as the Queen Anne’s lace wildflower.

“Frosty Morn” will hold your gaze with silvery-edged, gray-green leaves. Its variegated foliage and upright growth habit make this sedum stand out from the crowd of other bedding plants. Although more petite than the other two sedums, it also has showy flowers (white to pale pink) that cover the mound from late summer to early fall. The colorful painted lady butterfly will be as enchanted with this sedum as is the gardener.

Shade tends to cause weak, floppy foliage in the tall sedums. Propagate through division every three years or so, when new growth appears in spring. Once established, extra watering is unnecessary even in periods of prolonged drought. Deer may lightly browse and clip your sedums during the night, but they rarely consume the plant parts. Recover and relocate these pieces (even those without root hairs) to increase your bounty.

Pair tall sedums with slender fragrant goldenrod and asters for stunning displays of harvest color. After the first frost bites, cut the drying stems to an inch or two above the soil line. All three sedums are considered cold hardy to the Shepherdstown area and low-maintenance plants. Each is an ideal specimen plant or mass for greater visual impact and hummingbird attraction on the bird’s journey in-and-out of town.

Cooperative Extension website publications offer a wide range of tips, to prepare your garden for the changing season soon to arrive to our landscape.

Kristi Hendricks is a graduate of Shepherd College and West Virginia University and a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at belowthejames@yahoo.com.