In the Fall of '99, I put two Autumn Joy Sedum plants in my front yard flower bed. Last year they both grew to about 3 feet tall and fell over. They never bloomed. This year I cut them back, trying to keep them smaller and took some of the cuttings and just stuck in the ground in some of my other flower beds. Most of them are growing! Some of the new plants are starting to develop flower heads and look like they will be beautiful, but small.
Could my original plants be over nourished, and since they face the West, do they get too much sun? I love the blooms they are supposed to have, but I'm very disappointed that they have never bloomed.
I've never been much of a gardener, but since I moved to Northern MS, I have a yard full of lovely flowers and most of them seem to grow larger than the instructions said!
Any suggestions would be appreciated....
Autumn Joy Sedum
MsPatty
Sedums usually like poor, dry soil. Most, including Autumn Joy love full sun.
Calalily
mspattyneed Do you fertilize them. If you do you may be over fertilizing them, they really don't need extra fertilizer. If it is over fertilizing, that may account for the over abundance of foliage growth. Facing west shouldn't make a difference, I have some growing on the westside of the house, they get to be about 2 1/2 to 3 ft. tall.
I just thought, mine didn't bloom well last year, so it may have been just the weather.
Thanks for the info...I do fertilize that flower bed and here in MS, we have red clay soil that retains water. The places that I stuck the cuttings were in raised beds or in an area that we brought in some fill dirt. That explains the difference.
I also threw some of the clippings into the compost pile and now I have some sedum growing around the edges and it looks like it is going to bloom.
Very sweet of you to answer. This is a great site!
mspatty,
Ihave autum joy sedum growing wild all around my house.
It must have been here for many years. Our house is surrounded by bush in the front and back. These plants are growing in swamp and dry areas, in full sun and almost full shade, but most of the soil that they are growing in is very poor. If you need or want more let me know and I'll send it for postage.
trailingon
MSPATTI:
I also have Autumn Joy Sedum in my garden. Did you know that if you pinch back the early growth that the plant will get fuller instead of tall and lanky....similar to mums. Pinch early and stop when flower heads appear. Mine look great in one bed. However, I also have some which are not doing as well in another bed. These the landscaper put in two years ago. They are small and puny. I'm just watching them to see if there is a problem. Maybe they just froze o ut over the winter. We'll see. Good luck.
In our local newspaper, they have a garden section every Saturday....Last week, they said that you could cut back Sedum by about a third in early July. I'm going to try this and see if it helps. The sprigs that I stuck in the ground earlier this year have already developed seed heads, but the original two plants are just growing taller and have no seed heads. Maybe a good hair cut will help.
Thanks for all the advice and offers. Now I'm not afraid to try some things to get that sedum to bloom!!!