Sedum SunSparkler® 'Lime Zinger'

Sedum SunSparkler® 'Lime Zinger': Lime-Green Leaves With Cherry-Red Rims

'Lime Zinger' is the margarita of the rock garden. Lime-green leaves with a thin red rim like a salted glass, then pink flowers for the garnish. LAST ROUND IS ON THE GARDEN.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Sedum hybrid (also listed as Hylotelephium)
• Common Name: Stonecrop
• Series: SunSparkler®
• Height: 10–15 cm (4–6 in)
• Spread: 45 cm (18 in)
• Flowers: Pink, starry flowers in flat clusters. The buds open light pink and deepen as they mature.
• Bloom Time: Late summer to fall (August to October)
• Foliage: Rounded, lime-green succulent leaves with a thin red edge, forming a dense, low mound

Where to Plant: Use it to edge a sunny path, spill over a wall, fill a rock garden or cover a hot slope. It's a strong choice for containers and mixed succulent pots, and it handles the reflected heat along driveways and walkways.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Lime Zinger' in a sunny, dry bed with violet-blue lavender, mango hyssop and red gaillardia. Lavandula 'SuperBlue' adds deep violet-blue spikes at 25 to 30 cm from June to August. Gaillardia SpinTop® Red brings warm red daisies at 20 to 25 cm from June to September. Agastache 'Mango Tango' adds mango-orange spikes at 41 to 46 cm from July to September. Helictotrichon 'Sapphire' adds a stiff steel-blue clump at 60 to 100 cm in flower.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun, in well-drained soil. Sandy, gravelly or average soil is fine; rich soil and extra fertilizer make sedums floppy. In clay, add grit or plant on a slope or in a raised bed so the crown doesn't sit wet over winter. Water through the first season, then only in long dry spells. Leave the flower heads on through fall if you like. In early spring, trim off old stems and spent flowers before new growth gets going. If the centre opens up after a few years, divide it in spring.

History: 'Lime Zinger' was bred by Chris Hansen of Garden Solutions in Hudsonville, Michigan, from a 2009 cross between two plants in his own breeding program, and introduced through Walters Gardens in the SunSparkler® Series. Hansen chose the SunSparkler® plants from thousands of seedlings tested in West Michigan, looking for low sedums that keep their foliage colour from spring through fall.

Final Thoughts: Sunny, dry and ignored is its favourite kind of happy hour, and deer pass. PLANT ONE. ORDER ANOTHER.