Sedum ‘Red Carpet’

Sedum spurium ‘Red Carpet’

Characteristics

Culture

 Easily grown in acidic, average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun, Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ tolerates some light shade. Likes sandy or gravelly soils. Tolerates poor soils. Needs good soil drainage to perform well. Drought tolerant. Avoid overwatering. Plants may be sited 12” apart when grown as a ground cover. Easily propagated by cuttings or division. Plants spread easily (root where nodes touch the ground). Cut a leaf from a healthy sedum with about 1-2″ of stem and plant the stem with the leaf above soil. Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ plants are evergreen in warm winter climates.

Noteworthy Characteristics

 Sedum spurium, commonly called Caucasian Stonecrop or Two Row Stonecrop, is a low-growing, sprawling, mat-forming sedum or stonecrop that is commonly grown as a ground cover. It is native to the Caucusus. This is an evergreen plant that typically rises only 3-6” tall but spreads to 18-24” wide by creeping, branching stems that easily root at the nodes. Thick, succulent, opposite, obovate, flattened leaves are medium green with reddish-tinged margins. Lower stem leaves are deciduous, but newer leaves near the stem tips are evergreen, typically turning deep burgundy in fall for overwintering.

Tiny, 5-petaled, star-shaped, red flowers in dense, 4-branched inflorescences bloom from late spring to mid-summer atop upright reddish flower stems. Flowers are attractive to butterflies.  Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ has leaves that are attractive throughout the growing season. They turn deep burgundy in fall-winter.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails may appear. Watch for scale.

Garden Uses

Rock garden or small area ground cover. Border fronts. Stone wall pockets. Sunny banks or slopes. Edging. Containers. Best when planted in groups or massed as a ground cover.