Sedum / Stonecrop
Sedum
A low-care succulent with interest all year: fleshy green leaves in spring, pale pink buds in summer that open to deep pink-red as summer wanes, drawing butterflies and bees, then brown seed heads that stand through winter. It takes drought, salt and poor soil, but rich or wet soil makes it flop and rot.
- Mature size
- 2 × 2 ft
- 0.6 × 0.6 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–10b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry to medium
- Blooms
- Aug–Oct
Sedum / Stonecrop at its mature size
A mature Sedum / Stonecrop grows to about 2 ft tall and 2 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension.
Through the year
What Sedum / Stonecrop looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Feb
Dried dark brown heads on standing stems.
Below ground · Mar–Apr
Cut back; low rosettes only.
In leaf · May–Jul
Upright stems of fleshy gray-green leaves topped with flat pale green bud heads.
In flower · Aug–Sep
Flat heads of dusty pink flowers.
Fall · Oct–Nov
Flower heads deepened to rusty red then copper-brown.
Growing Sedum / Stonecrop
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Plains and Mountain West, the Pacific Northwest, and California.
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Good for
- Foundation planting, specimen, drought tolerant, winter interest, and fast growing
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- China, Korea, and Europe
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Sedum / Stonecrop, that’s about 2 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Sedum / Stonecrop in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other stonecrops
Angelina StonecropSedum / Stonecrop
Autumn Joy SedumAll drawn to the same scale.