SEDUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SEDUM. 



809 



the most important for the garden is 

 haematodes, or atro-purpureum as it is 

 commonly called, from the vivid purple 

 of the stems and large fleshy leaves. 

 It grows from i to 2 ft. high, and though 

 the flowers are not showy, it is bold, 

 stately, and admirably suited for massing. 

 It should be planted in the poorest, stony, 

 gravelly soil, and smoke will not injure 

 it. On white calcareous rocks it is at 

 home. 



S. pulchellum (Ptirple American Stone- 

 crop^. A pretty species, with purplish 

 flowers, arranged in several spreading and 

 recurved branchlets, bird's-foot fashion, 

 with numerous spreading stems. It is 



a curious crested variety, sometimes 

 known as monstrosum or fasciatum. S. 

 album, another native kind, has brownish- 

 green leaves and white or pinkish flowers. 

 Like the Stonecrop it occurs on old roofs 

 and rocky places in many parts of Europe. 

 All these kinds are worth naturalising on 

 walls or old ruins, in places where they 

 do not occur naturally, also on the margins 

 of the pathways and the less important 

 surfaces of the rock-garden. 



S. semper vivoides (Scarlet Stone- 

 crop). This beautiful Stonecrop has ros- 

 ettes of leaves like those of the common 

 Houseleek, (Sempervivum tectorum). 

 The brilliant scarlet flowers form a dense 



The Japanese Stonecrop (Sedum spectabile). 



abundant in North America, and in France 

 is a good deal used for edging. It is also 

 appropriate for the rock-garden or the 

 front margin of a mixed border, growing 

 in any soil, and flowering in summer. 



S. rupestre (Rock Stonecrop]. A 

 densely-tufted native plant, with rather 

 loose corymbs of yellow flowers, and 

 numerous spreading shoots generally 

 rooting at the base, but quite erect at the 

 top. It is frequently used as an edging 

 or border plant. There are several similar 

 kinds, such as the glaucous-leaved S. 

 pruinatum, commonly known as S. 

 elegans ; S. Fosterianum, with light green 

 leaves ; and S. reflexum, of which there 

 are several varieties, including cristatum, 



head similar to the well-known Rochea 

 falcata. It is strictly biennial, as it 

 flowers from seed freely in the second year, 

 then dies, and is not hardy, but during 

 summer grows freely on a dry bank. In 

 winter it stands frost if the weather is 

 dry, but frost and wet combined are fatal 

 to it. Seeds germinate freely, and should 

 be sown in January in gentle heat, plung- 

 ing the pot in water before sowing, so that 

 the soil may not get dry. As soon as 

 large enough pot off singly. If well watered 

 while growing, they ought, by the end of 

 the summer, to be as large as a crown- 

 piece. During autumn and winter the 

 plants must only be just kept moist enough 

 to prevent their leaves from shrivelling. 



