Sedum acre

Sedum acre: Fills the Cracks Nothing Else Will Touch

Goldmoss stonecrop creeps over gravel and rock like it's late for a very important meeting. Tiny bright green leaves, then yellow stars so thick they hide the whole mat. SUNGLASSES MANDATORY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Sedum acre
• Common Name: Goldmoss Stonecrop
• Height: 3–10 cm (1–4 in)
• Spread: 30–60 cm (1–2 ft)
• Flowers: Bright yellow, star-shaped flowers about 1 cm (1/2 in) across, covering the mat
• Bloom Time: Early summer (June to July)
• Foliage: Tiny, fleshy, bright green leaves on creeping stems, forming a dense, low mat

Where to Plant: This is a plant for the hard places: between paving stones, along gravel paths, over rock walls, in shallow troughs and on green roofs, where the soil is thin. It spreads quickly by creeping stems and by bits that break off and root. Keep it out of tidy beds where it could crowd delicate neighbours.

Companion Plants: Let goldmoss stonecrop fill cracks and gravel in a sunny, dry bed with chrome spurge, Jerusalem sage and lemon coneflowers. Euphorbia 'Bonfire' adds red-purple leaves and chrome-yellow bracts at 30 to 45 cm in May and June. Echinacea Sombrero® Lemon Yellow Improved brings lemon coneflowers at 46 to 56 cm from June to August. Phlomis tuberosa adds whorls of lavender-pink flowers at 90 to 150 cm from June to August. Schizachyrium 'The Blues' rises at 60 to 90 cm in powder blue.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in very well-drained soil. Sandy, gravelly and poor soils are perfect. It rarely needs watering once rooted, and it dislikes wet, poorly drained ground. No fertilizer is needed. If it wanders too far, pull up the extra pieces. It's shallow-rooted, so this is easy work. Those pieces will root wherever you drop them, which makes filling bare spots simple too. A light shear after flowering keeps the mat neat but isn't required.

History: Sedum acre is native to Europe, North Africa and parts of northern and western Asia, and it has long since naturalized in Canada and the eastern United States. Its old common names, wallpepper and biting stonecrop, come from the sharp, peppery taste of its leaves, a warning that the plant is considered toxic and shouldn't be eaten.

Final Thoughts: Cracks, gravel, hot walls: it fills them all without asking. Deer pass. PLANT IT WHERE NOTHING ELSE DARES.