Sedum telephium Marina - Autumn Stonecrop

Sedum 'Marina' is an autumn stonecrop with magnificent foliage: it is the bluest of all stonecrops. In spring and until early summer, it sports beautiful silver-blue foliage in rosettes. It then turns bluish-green before blooming with clusters of raspberry flowers. The plant is attractive until late autumn. It comes to life during the last beautiful days of the season with a perpetual ballet of butterflies. Its ornamental qualities and its ease of cultivation in diverse conditions make it one of the most accommodating plants there is. It tolerates dry and poor soils well and survives in gardens without gardeners. Magnificent in rock gardens, it also grows very well in pots.

Sedum 'Marina' belongs to the Crassulaceae family. It is a hybrid cultivar. The plant forms a bushy and dense clump, reaching 30cm (12cm) in height and spreading over 40cm (16in), with a rather slow growth rate. Flowering occurs in August and September. The numerous inflorescences, in flat and dense terminal cymes, reach 20 to 28cm (8 to 11in) in diameter and persist for up to 5 weeks on the plant. The tiny flowers bloom in a very bright raspberry pink shade. Intensely nectar-rich and honey-producing, they attract many insects. The thick and fleshy deciduous foliage is lanceolate. The glossy leaves are silver-blue before turning purple in summer. 

A boon for gardens with lean soil, Sedum 'Marina' is a plant for well-drained, even dry soil. Combine it with rocks in the rock garden, with paving stones on a patio, and with low walls, surrounding it with a retinue of spurges (Euphorbia myrsinites, E. rigida), grasses such as stipa and eragrostis, houseleeks, and grey-foliaged plants such as wormwoods. These companions all accept the same difficult living conditions. It works well in a container. It is also an excellent flower for drying, or for fresh floral bouquets.