Hylotelephium × mottramianum 'Herbstfreude'
stonecrop ( syn. Sedum Autumn Joy )
Flat-topped flowerheads, which can grow up to 20cm across, are made up of greenish white buds that open to pale pink, star-shaped...
This strong hybrid produces flat heads of starry pink flowers and these fade to from chocolate-brown winter silhouettes - so still a late star
Plant description
Garden care: The flowerheads look great left during the winter to add shape and texture to your border. In February and March cut back the old flowerheads and apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted garden compost or manure around the base of the plant. Once established, sedums can have a tendency to flop leaving an open and unsightly centre, especially in fertile soil. One technique to help prevent this is the 'Chelsea chop'. During the last week of May (Chelsea Flower Show week), cut one in every three stems back to the ground. This will produce plants that are less lush and flower slightly later.
Eventual height & spread
Flowering period
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Plant features
Position
Full sun
Rate of growth
Average
Soil
Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
Hardiness
Fully hardy
How to care for Hylotelephium × mottramianum Herbstfreude:
Please note:
GOES WELL WITH
How to create a wildlife-friendly garden
Wildlife-friendly gardens are not only more interesting as you can watch all the comings and goings, but they are often more productive as many creatures will help increase pollination. Garden ponds act as a magnet to dragonflies and damsel flies, along w
Read full articleDealing with common pests and diseases
One of the first things you learn when you start gardening is that plants are not alone in the garden. There is a whole host of bugs that set up home in your beds and borders as well as an alarming range of microscopic bacteria, fungi and viruses that are
Read full articleSeaside
Gardening by the coast offers specific challenges and opportunities. You can take advantage of the mild climate to grow not-so-hardy plants with confidence, but will have to choose them carefully to ensure they can cope with the buffeting winds and salt-
Read full articleAphids
Most commonly thought of as the small, fat, green insects covering roses. However, aphids can also be black, yellow, pink, greyish-white and brown. They are all about 2mm long, round and full of sap.
Read full articleThe Chelsea Chop (and other methods of extending the flowering season)
Many gardeners who are happy, even gung-ho, with the secateurs when pruning shrubs and climbers are surprisingly reluctant to take the shears to herbaceous perennials. Maybe this is because it just doesn't seem quite right to be cutting back all that new
Read full articleThe Chelsea Chop
In the third week of this month you can 'Chelsea chop' your summer-flowering perennials to delay their flowering times. Sedums can be cut back by two thirds to provide lusher foliage, but at the expense of flower.
Read full articleSedums - late summer jewels
Essential plants for adding late summer sparkle to the garden, Sedums will also attract beneficial insects including bees and butterflies. ‘Purple Emperor’, a red-flowered sedum that has neatly crimped dark foliage with a satin sheen. This sedum doesn’t
Read full articleDecorative seed heads for the autumn garden
As the days shorten, the autumn sun sinks a little lower every day and begins to backlight the borders, picking up detail and silhouette. There’s plenty to enjoy,- seed heads, in autumnal shades of brown and silver take centre stage, often lasting until m
Read full articlePlants with seedheads for the winter garden
Some plants have intricate seed heads which provide a profile and refuge to insects in a winter garden, and seed heads can be beguiling. However care must be taken not to allow seed heads that deliver hundreds of seed a free reign.
Read full articleLong flowering plants for your garden
When choosing plants for your garden you want some ‘core plants’, ones that will that offer weeks of flower, not just a few fleeting days. These stalwarts help balance out those ephemeral poppies, the plants with the tissue-paper petals that drop within a
Read full article