SEDUM SIEBOLDI. 



This plant has been so frequently re- 

 commended in these pages, that we 

 should need to apologize for introducing 

 it again, had we not been fully per- 

 suaded by statements in letters that 

 reach us that many of our readers are 

 either unacquainted with its beauty 

 or with the proper method of its cul- 

 tivation. Sedum Sieboldi was intro- 

 duced by Siebold from Japan in 1830, 

 and was for a long time cultivated in 

 cool greenhouses, but being ultimately 

 found to be quite hardy, it has gra- 

 dually passed from the greenhouse to 

 the rockery, and, consequently, there 

 are very few cultivators who now 

 know anything of its real beauty. 

 The habit of this sedum is remark- 

 ably distinct and elegant. From a 

 central crown or " stool " a number 

 of slender branches are thrown out, 

 these branches are beset, at regular 

 intervals, with fleshy leaves in groups 

 of three each, and they continue to 

 lengthen until some time in the month 

 of August, when umbels of flower- 

 buds appear at the termination of 

 each. Well-grown specimens produce 

 shoots averaging fifteen to eighteen 

 inches in length, and the heads of 

 flowers have a diameter of four or 

 five inches. In every stage of growth 

 the plant is a beautiful object, the 

 leaves being slightly concave on the 

 upper surface, and covered with a de- 

 licate glaucous bloom. The flower- 

 buds appear a long time in advance of 

 the flowers, but when at last these 

 open in the month of September, 

 their lively rosy pink hue and sym- 

 metrical disposition are remarkably 

 beautiful, and contrast chastely and 

 cheerfully with the peculiar tint of the 

 leafage. After the blooms have faded 

 the stems die down, and are imme- 

 diately succeeded by a new growth 

 from the root, and thus, if encouraged 

 by good culture, a specimen will be- 

 come larger and larger every year, and 

 may be grown ultimately to colossal 

 dimensions. 



This is one of the easiest plants to 

 grow to perfection, or to render un- 

 sightly ; it is not an easy plant to 



kill, 9 but the killing may be accom- 

 plished if persevered in. As directions 

 for the culture seem to be desired, we 

 will give, in a few words, the result of 

 twenty years' experience and obser- 

 vation. It requires a rich, light soil, 

 and perhaps the best compost for a 

 specimen would be formed as follows : — 

 Turfy loam, two parts ; rotten dung, 

 one part ; bricks broken to the size of 

 hazel-nuts, one part ; sharp sand, one 

 part. In this mixture it should be 

 potted firmly, aud in spring, when the 

 new growth is beginning to advance, 

 the plant should be shaken out, a con- 

 siderable portion of the soil removed 

 from the roots, and be repotted in a 

 pot one size larger than the last. It 

 requires to be always under glass, 

 exposed to the full daylight without 

 shading at any season, to have abun- 

 dance of water from April to August, 

 ani at other times to be kept merely 

 moist enough to prevent flagging. 



Many growers destroy the beauty 

 of this plant by training it upright. 

 It is really a trailer, and should be 

 put in a pot suspended from a rafter 

 of a cool greenhouse. It then acquires 

 most graceful outlines, and blooms 

 most profusely and perfectly because 

 of the heat of the sun acting on the 

 pot, and the perfect drainage it has in 

 consequence of the impossibility of 

 water lodging under the pot or worms 

 getting in to disarrange the crocks. 

 In watering, not a drop should ever 

 fall on the ieaves, it should always be 

 placed where there is no probability 

 of injury by drip, and at all seasons it 

 should have as much air as can be 

 given it without exposing it to cold 

 currents or frost. 



To propagate this plant, take little 

 cuttings of the new growth in Fe- 

 bruary, March, April, and May. Pre- 

 pare them as cuttings by removing the 

 leaves from the lowest joint, and 

 dibbling them firmly into sand. If 

 made early, a gentle bottom-heat will 

 be required, but after March the cut- 

 tings will strike without heat. The 

 first season of growth from the cut- 

 ting pans keep the plants in 60-sized 



