Two-row Stonecrop

(Crassulaceae - Orpine Family)

Form

• short herbaceous semi-evergreen groundcover
• maturing at about 4" tall in foliage and 6" tall when in flower, quickly spreading to form mats of dense stems and miniature foliage
• procumbent mat growth habit, becoming a prostrate mat in Winter
• slow to medium growth rate (in clump diameter)

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• performs best in full sun in moist, well-drained soils, but it is extremely urban tolerant, and is usually reserved for highly stressful sites around rockery that exposes it to thin soils, poor soils, very dry soils, soils of various pH, low fertility, extreme heat, drought, full sun, and high light reflectance; however, it is not tolerant of wet or poorly drained soils
• propagated primarily by rooted stem cuttings, but also by crown division or segmentation of the self-rooted prostrate stems
• Orpine Family, with no diseases or pests of significance
• commonly available in containers

Foliage

• semi-evergreen succulent leaves are green, bronzed, red, crimson, or variegated (depending upon cultivar), usually absciscing all but the most terminal leaves by late Winter, with the remaining leaves staying bronzed into the following Spring
• opposite (or clustered at the stem apices), obovate (fan-shaped), crenate, and sessile to short-petioled

Flowers

• red, pink, or pinkish-white, flowering profusely for two to four weeks in June and July, especially on mature plants that are under a moderate amount of stress (or put another way, those that have it "good" in terms of soil, moisture, and nutrition tend to have predominantly lush vegetative growth rather than reproductive growth)
• erect inflorescences occur above the foliage, with the vertical peduncles radiating flat-topped pedicels at the apex, bejeweled with many five-petaled, star-like flowers

Fruits

• wirey pedicels are the predominate feature on the fruiting heads, and will persist into the following season if unsheared and will detract somewhat from the superior foliage effect
• best to dead-head after flowering, to promote vegetative growth

Twigs

• herbaceous stems are green, red/purple, or light brown, and self-root at the nodes as they lie upon the ground

Trunk

• not applicable

ID Summary

• procumbent to prostrate stems are adorned with small, fan-shaped, crenate foliage that is green, heavily bronzed, or red in color, and topped by interesting flat-topped infloresences in early to mid-Summer, having miniature star-shaped flowers with five petals that are red, pink, or white in color

USAGE

Function

• usually located in poor thin soils, soilless media, at the edge of beds, or even in rock crevices
• often found as a complementary plant that weaves in and around other plants or rambles over rockery, and mixes well with other perennials in raised planters, strawberry jars, edgings, rock gardens, and wall overhangs; less often found as a solid groundcover in the landscape

Texture

• medium to fine texture
• thin to thick density, depending upon soil availability and competition with other plants

Assets

• very urban tolerant (especially to full sun, poor soils, thin soils, and prolonged drought; basically, it will grow where nothing else will, as long as it is sunny and dry)
• foliage color variants (usually bronzed or red, but also variegated)
• small but showy pink inflorescences in early Summer (especially when viewed among rock outcrops)
• rapidly spreading under optimum conditions

Liabilities

• prone to invasion and domination by weeds (since it is often located in tucked-away, stressful spots that do not have mulch, and that harbor only the toughest plants that are naturally dispersed by seed or rhizomes)
• slowly invasive, and hard to extract from the crevices that it can root into

Habitat

• zones 3 to 8
• native to the Caucasus

SELECTIONS

Alternates

• other groundcovers, specimen dwarf perennials, rock garden plants, or unusual plants for "collectors", especially those plants that perform well under stressful conditions (Antennaria dioica, Cerastium tomentosum, Genista pilosa, Lewisia cotyledon, Opuntia humifusa, Phlox subulata, Sedum species, Sempervivum hybrids, Thymus species, etc.)

Variants

• several exist, primarily noted for foliage color and/or flower color
• Sedum spurium 'Dragon's Blood' - the most popular cultivar, very vigorous, with deep mauve or dark pink inflorescences, noted for its greenish-bronzed to reddish-bronzed foliage throughout the Summer, that turns to a deep and attractive burgandy in Winter
• Sedum spurium 'Red Carpet' - reddish foliage throughout the growing season, becoming a deep crimson in Autumn and Winter, rarely having deep carmine flowers; not as vigorous as most other green- or bronze-foliaged cultivars
• Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' (also known as 'Variegatum') - foliage is a combination of faded jade green, white, and pink; this cultivar is weak, spreads slowly, is not dependably Winter hardy, and rarely flowers

NOTES

Translation

• Sedum translates as "to sit or hold fast", probably referring to its adventitious root formation and attachment from its stem nodes under adverse conditions.
• spurium translates as "false", of uncertain meaning.

Purpose

• Two-row Stonecrop is an urban tolerant, Summer-flowering, tough groundcover, with the Winter effect of semi-evergreen bronzed foliage in many cases.

Summary

• Sedum spurium is known as a creeping groundcover that forms a low dense procumbent mat and is very urban tolerant, especially to heat, full sun, drought, and poor thin rocky soils.