Sedum 'Dragon's Blood'

Sedum 'Dragon's Blood': Crimson Leaves That Hold the Slope

'Dragon's Blood' sounds like a heavy metal album, looks like a red carpet and acts like a cockroach in a drought. Red-edged leaves deepen to crimson in fall. METAL. ABSOLUTELY METAL.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Sedum spurium 'Dragon's Blood' (syn. 'Schorbuser Blut'; also listed as Phedimus spurius)
• Common Name: Two-row Stonecrop
• Height: 5–10 cm (2–4 in)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Deep rose-red, star-shaped flowers in flat clusters
• Bloom Time: Summer (June to August)
• Foliage: Small, rounded, scalloped leaves, green with red edges, deepening to burgundy and crimson in fall
• Features: RHS Award of Garden Merit

Where to Plant: It's a classic for sunny slopes, rock gardens, wall tops, gravel beds and the edges of paths. Its trailing stems root as they go, so it knits into a mat that helps hold soil on dry banks. It takes the heat along driveways and sidewalks but not regular foot traffic, so keep it beside the path, not on it.

Companion Plants: Let 'Dragon's Blood' carpet the front of a sunny, dry bed with raspberry pinks, variegated iris and carmine coneflowers. Dianthus Fruit Punch® 'Raspberry Ruffles' adds double raspberry pinks at 20 to 25 cm from June to September. Iris pallida 'Albovariegata' brings cream-striped leaves and lavender-blue flowers at about 60 cm in May and June. Echinacea 'Ruby Star' adds carmine-pink coneflowers at 90 to 100 cm from July to September. Panicum 'Shenandoah' stands behind at 90 to 120 cm, turning burgundy by fall.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun for the deepest red. It accepts part sun, but the leaves will be greener. Any well-drained soil works, including poor or sandy ground. In heavy clay, add grit so winter wet drains away from the crowns. Water to get it established, then only in a long drought. Skip the fertilizer. Shear off spent flower stems after bloom if you want a neater mat. In spring, pull or cut back pieces that wander too far. Every piece with a little stem will root, so share them or fill bare spots.

History: Sedum spurium, two-row stonecrop, comes from the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia and has been grown as a groundcover for generations. 'Dragon's Blood' is a German selection originally named 'Schorbuser Blut', still the most widely planted red form, and it holds the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Final Thoughts: Hot rock wall, gravel path, a spot nothing else survives. It moves right in, and the deer won't fight it. UNLEASH THE DRAGON.