Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Uncle Charlie plant aka sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
My sister and I called sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, “Uncle Charlie plant” for years. DECADES ago, he gave my mom a few slices of his ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum, who gave my sister some, who gave me some and to this day, some of them still survive in other peoples landscapes. Remnants of “Uncle Charlie Plant” are scattered from northern Illinois to northern Minnesota! I just moved more!
When I moved into my home in 2012, I had one large plant at my back door. After dividing it…. and dividing it…. and dividing it, I have more, my neighbors have more and some, I’ve put in the compost pile. That said, if you want a plant that gives you literally no trouble and the Painted Lady butterflies LOVE, then choose ‘Autumn Joy’!
The flowers are an unobtrusive shade of pink from the end of summer into Fall, pleasant succulent leaves and gives some winter interest, with it’s dried flower heads. I’ve spray painted them to use in my outdoor Christmas planters.
Other sedums are spread throughout my landscape. The pic below was several years ago, that plant lasted outside in that tub for years!
A fairly recent improvement on ‘Autumn Joy’ is called ‘Mr. Goodbud’. Rich pink flowers sit on purplish stems. The blooms average about 5 to 6 inches in diameter. The foliage is a deep blue green and serrated. The thick stems resist flopping. ‘Mr. Goodbud’s mature height is about 16 inches.
Proven Winners has created the Sedum Rock ‘n Grow series. A new introduction coming to garden centers next year is called ‘Boogie Woogie’. ‘Atlantis’ was introduced in 2019.
A summer-flowering groundcover plant with beautiful green and cream variegation. It looks beautifully bright all season, and yellow flowers are an added bonus. About 8 inches tall, it spreads 18 inches wide. Sedums are also known as stonecrop and as I said there’s a vast array of cultivars in this family.