UT Gardens' January 2015 Plant of the
Month:
‘Angelina’
stonecrop
Submitted by Susan Hamilton, Director of the University
of Tennessee Gardens
Frigid fall and winter temperatures are challenging not only for man and beast but
also for plants. As I prepared to write this article, I realized that many of my
favorite flowering specimens like camellia, cornelian cherry dogwood,
witchhazel, and Japanese flowering apricot are holding tightly to their flower
buds preparing to bloom when the weather is well beyond bitter temperatures. So
this month’s plant was chosen for its beautiful foliage color rather than its
bloom. It’s not a tree or shrub, either, but rather a beautiful, enduring
herbaceous groundcover — sedum.
This selection of sedum, in my opinion, is one that every garden has to
have: ‘Angelina’ stonecrop, botanically known as Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’.
Winter is the best time of the year for this particular evergreen stonecrop.
Its bright lime-green to yellow-gold foliage, which is attractive during the
growing season, turns a beautiful amber to almost orange color in the fall
through winter months. Our frigid temperature dips only intensify the foliage
color of this durable groundcover. What’s more, it is an easy plant to grow. Drought
and neglect don’t trouble this perennial. In fact, it will flourish in soils of
low or moderate fertility as long as they are well drained, in sun or partial
shade. It also happily embraces our Tennessee heat and humidity.
Vigorous and dependable, Angelina stonecrop will grow about a foot in width in
a season with a height no taller than 2 to 4 inches. Its golden, yellow-green
needle-like, evergreen foliage produces upright yellow flowers that grow 4 to 6
inches tall in early summer. Plants will spread and form a mat over time. Space
starter plants 8 to 12 inches apart for massing as a ground cover.
This sedum is great for edging a sunny perennial garden, and it loves cascading
over the edge of containers and retaining walls and trailing over rock and
stone outcroppings in a xeric garden. In fact, its species name, rupestre, means
“rock loving” in reference to the mountainous native habit of plants of this
species. I think the versatile foliage color of Angelina is a great compliment
to the soft blues, pinks and greens of other plants and is especially wonderful
for highlighting dark-leaved plants.
Angelina sedum may be divided or pruned at any time and it can easily be
propagated by literally just laying pieces of the foliage and stems on top of
the ground or barely covering them with soil. Also, it’s “deer proof,” which is
another reason to love this plant.
The University
of Tennessee Gardens located in Knoxville, Crossville and Jackson are part of
the UT Institute of Agriculture. Designated as the official
botanical garden for the State of Tennessee, the gardens’ mission is to foster
appreciation, education and stewardship of plants through garden displays,
educational programs and research trials. The gardens are open during all
seasons and free to the public except during designated special events. For
more information see utgardens.tennessee.edu
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Contacts:
Patricia McDaniels, UTIA Marketing and Communications, 615-835-4570, pmcdaniels@tennessee.edu