Sedum SunSparkler® 'Cherry Tart'

Sedum SunSparkler® 'Cherry Tart': Cherry-Red Buttons for Hot, Dry Strips

'Cherry Tart' is cheeky, red and fully aware of it. Round cherry-red leaves all season, dark pink flowers on top, and the kind of attitude your mother warned you about. A LITTLE TART NEVER HURT ANYBODY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Sedum hybrid (also listed as Hylotelephium)
• Common Name: Stonecrop
• Series: SunSparkler®, from breeder Chris Hansen
• Height: 10–15 cm (4–6 in)
• Spread: 40–45 cm (16–18 in)
• Flowers: Dark pink, star-shaped flowers in rounded clusters
• Bloom Time: Late summer to early fall (August to September)
• Foliage: Round, succulent, cherry-red leaves that keep their colour all season
• Features: Rabbit resistant

Where to Plant: Use it as an edging plant, a small-scale groundcover or a colour spot in a rock garden or trough. It looks great spilling from containers. It's a good fit for the hot, dry strip along a sidewalk or driveway, where thirstier plants give up.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Cherry Tart' in a sunny, dry bed with white candytuft, white coneflowers and common milkweed. Iberis 'Snowflake' opens white candytuft at 20 to 25 cm in May and June. Echinacea SunMagic® Vintage White adds white coneflowers at 45 to 60 cm from June to September. Asclepias syriaca brings fragrant pink milkweed clusters at 90 to 150 cm from July to September. Festuca mairei adds a dense, arching clump at 60 to 90 cm in flower.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun for the deepest colour. It tolerates a little afternoon shade, though the leaves will be less red. Give it well-drained soil. Sandy or gravelly soil is ideal. In heavy clay, mix in grit or plant it slightly raised, because wet winter soil causes more trouble than cold. Water through the first season, then only in long dry spells. Don't fertilize. In early spring, trim away last year's dead stems before new growth begins. Divide in spring every few years if the clump thins in the centre.

History: 'Cherry Tart' was bred by Christopher Hansen in Hudsonville, Michigan, from a controlled cross made in July 2009 between two unnamed plants from his own breeding lines, and it was selected in 2010. It later joined his SunSparkler® series of compact, colourful sedums.

Final Thoughts: Deer and rabbits keep their hands to themselves. Bees and butterflies do not. PUT A CHERRY ON YOUR GARDEN.