Sedum album Coral Carpet - Stonecrop

Sedum album 'Coral Carpet', also known as white stonecrop, is a small creeping perennial with charming tiny leaves. Its plump leaves form small green rosettes that turn red with the first cold winds in autumn. Evergreen and resistant to drought, it creates a carpet that colonises the most difficult terrains. Its long stems easily root in any crevice and thrive in poor soils, preferably in the sun. Its white flowering in star-shaped blooms occurs in June and July, completing this delicate miniature.

From the Crassulaceae family, white stonecrop thrives in difficult and very dry soils in the wild. If your soil is poor, rather rocky, or even slightly chalky, you can still benefit from these hardy perennials (it withstands temperatures below -15°C (5°F)), which require no maintenance and promise to bring changing colours to your garden. These sedums are easy-to-grow succulents, with flowers and foliage in various shades that can be used to create multiple palettes, whether in flower beds, pots, or rock gardens. However, they should not be exposed to excessive moisture in winter, nor covered with dead leaves (as this may cause them to deteriorate). They prefer a sunny, even scorching, exposure and will thrive in just a few millimetres of substrate.

The 'Coral Carpet' variety has a creeping habit that can spread up to 45cm (18in). Its stems slightly rise at their tips, barely reaching a height of 5cm (2in). They bear small, oblong, fleshy, and almost cylindrical leaves. When filled with water, they measure barely 3 to 4mm. Alternate in arrangement, they create the appearance of small rosettes at the ends of the stems. This foliage displays distinct but changing shades. Light green, it turns coral red, darkening to almost purple and gradually spreading to all the leaves. These nuances vary, like most of its cousins in the same genus, depending on the climatic conditions: the amount of light and the cold will either lighten or intensify its colours. From this carpet, a tiny and delicate flowering stands out. Its miniature corymb inflorescences consist of multiple star-shaped white flowers, which can double the height of this small carpet.

Sedum album 'Coral Carpet' is a great asset to conquer all the corners around the house. Plant it on the edges of the driveway, at the corner of a patio, or at the foot of an overly exposed wall. Requiring no maintenance and colonising abandoned spaces, it is suitable for green roofs and second homes. It is the privileged guest of mineral scenes with contemporary accents and will thrive in pots or in a field of coloured gravel surrounded by grasses. In a rock garden, plant it with its cousins: S. 'Lemon Ball,' S. spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco,' and S. reflexum 'Angelina' to create a highly varied scene.