Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — If you are looking for easy care perennial plants for your Steamboat garden, sedums are a great choice. Sedums are succulents: plants that hold water in their leaves and stems. This is how they adapt to our dry conditions in Routt County.

Sedums range from 2 inches to 2 feet in height and offer a variety of flower colors. Attractive to butterflies and bees, sedums are one of the easiest plants to propagate by root cutting or division of plants. They are also cost effective as a small piece of a sedum plant will usually grow if planted in sandy loam. In only a few years you can have many sedums growing in your garden.

Sedums prefer alkaline, well-drained soil and full sun, although some plants will tolerate part shade. Most sedums grow by off-shoots or runners. The better the soil conditions, the better the growth of the plant.

Prepare the area for planting by removing all weeds. Apply Glyphosate (Roundup or Kleenup) a week before planting. These products do not leave any residue in the soil and will kill most existing plants in the area where you want to plant. Add organic material to the soil and plant the sedum plants. Be sure to water the plants more frequently when they are freshly planted.

Sedums grow very well on hot dry slopes, in rock gardens, between stepping stones and between rocks in a rock wall. There are many varieties adaptable to our area. You might want to check out the large variety of sedums that grow well here by stopping by Yampa River Botanic Park. Several kinds of sedum are grown in its south-facing rock garden and its beautiful September charm garden.

These succulents will add texture and color to your flower beds. They will thrive with little attention in difficult-to-grow areas of the garden. Sedums are attractive, cost effective and easy-growing plants works for me.

Camille C. Fisher is a Routt County resident and a Master Gardener through the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension office in Routt County. Products mentioned in this article are not endorsed by the Master Gardener program but are simply presented for informational purposes. Questions? Call 879-0825 or e-mail: gardeners@co.routt.co.us.