Sedum Matrona - Orpin d'Automne Matrona, Grand Orpin Matrona

Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’, still widely marketed under the name Sedum ‘Matrona’, is an autumn stonecrop prized for its robustness and colours. Its purple-red stems bear fleshy, grey-green leaves washed with violet, then large pale pink flowers in late summer. The plant requires no staking in soil that is not too rich and well-drained. Its flowering feeds bees and butterflies at a time when resources become scarce. Resistant to drought and cold, this excellent variety is easy to grow.

This variety ‘Matrona’ belongs to the Crassulaceae family, which includes many succulent plants capable of storing water in their leaves. It is a herbaceous perennial whose foliage dies down in winter and regrows from its crown in spring. It was selected by the German nurseryman Ewald Hügin in Freiburg im Breisgau. The plant is said to have been spotted in 1986, before its release in the early 1990s. Its parents are Hylotelephium telephium subsp. maximum ‘Atropurpureum’ and the cultivar ‘Herbstfreude’. It combines the dark foliage of the first with the vigour of the second. At maturity it forms a clump 60 to 70 cm tall and 40 to 50 cm wide. Its stems are thick, smooth and brownish-red to dark purple. In very fertile soil or with regular watering, they may elongate and splay under the weight of the flowers. The leaves are typically 6 to 10 cm long, oval, thick and slightly dentate. Their colour ranges from grey-green to purple-green, with more pronounced colouring on the edges and around the veins. From July onwards, the stem tips carry clusters of tight, pale green buds. They open from August to October into small star-shaped flowers with five petals. Grouped in flattened cymes up to 12 to 15 cm in diameter, they form broad plates of soft pink fading to greyish pink. Their nectar attracts bees, hoverflies and other butterflies. The dried flower heads remain visible for part of the winter and are quite decorative.
Sedum ‘Matrona’ received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. This selection also gained an award from the International Hardy Plant Union in 1998 and was named Perennial of the Year in the Netherlands in 2000. Its name in German evokes a woman of imposing appearance, referring to its robust silhouette.

This plant finds its place in a sunny border, a scree garden or a naturalistic planting scheme. Its upright habit and large pink flowers pair well with medium-sized ornamental grasses, which add movement, as well as with perennials bearing small blue, pink or violet flowers. It can be paired with Sporobolus heterolepis ‘Cloud’ and Aster cordifolius ‘Little Carlow’. Muhlenbergia, Stipa, eryngiums and small-leaved shrubby sages are also suitable. In heavy soils, raised planting or a well-drained area limits winter moisture around the crown.