I’m pretty sure the very first perennial I ever purchased was Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. It was advertised as “fool proof” and the perfect perennial for beginning gardeners in all the books I had read. That’s all I had to hear so I went out and bought two of them (planting in odd numbers was still a foreign concept to me).
I loved it at first with it’s unique foliage and the fact that it emerged so early in the spring. When the blooms came in late summer, I was pumped up. But then it happened … it started to sprawl and I was devastated (slight hyperbole). I gave up on them for years but admittedly would look longingly at them in other people’s gardens.
Fast forward ten years or so and I’ve found the perfect solution to my sedum envy, she’s called ‘Autumn Fire’:
I’ve owned this beauty for three years now and have been thrilled with the results. I could swoon over those sedum blooms:
Without worrying about this happening:
Some Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ facts:
- Maxes out at about 2′ x 2′
- Prefers full sun
- Needs good drainage to survive and some how I found a spot where that works
- Is not deer resistant and again, I’ve some how managed to hold them off … for now
- Survives in zones 3-9
Personally, I love watching the blooms slowly change from mid summer all the way into the middle of Fall:
Give it a whirl, won’t you?
John