Common Name: tasteless stonecrop
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Crassulaceae
Native Range: Europe and west European Russia
Zone: 3 to 9
Height: 0.25 to 0.50 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Butterflies
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil, Air Pollution
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Good tolerance for light shade. Also tolerates moist (not wet) soils with good drainage. Thrives in sandy to gravelly soils of moderate to low fertility. Plants will naturalize to form an excellent ground cover. Propagate by division or seed.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Sedum sexangulare, commonly called tasteless stonecrop, is a vigorous, dense, glabrous, mat-forming, evergreen stonecrop that it native to Europe and southwestern Asia. It has escaped gardens and naturalized in parts of the upper midwest (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio), New England and Ontario. It typically grows to 3-4" tall (in bloom) with a spread to 12-24" wide. Cylindrical, succulent, bright green leaves (1/4" long) appear in six spiral rows (sexangulare from Latin means six-angled). Leaves take on copper-bronze tones in fall and winter. Tiny, star-like, 5-petaled, bright yellow flowers bloom in cymes just above the foliage in summer (June to August). The leaves of tasteless stonecrop have a very mild taste (as opposed to the similar Sedum acre leaves which are bitter), hence the common name. Tasteless stonecrop is also commonly called watch chain stonecrop in reference to its chain-like foliage appearance and six row stonecrop in reference to its leaves appearing in six spiral rows.
Genus name comes from the Latin word sedeo meaning to sit in reference to the general growing habit of many of the sedums (they sit and sprawl over rocks).
Specific epithet means six-angled.
Sedums are commonly called stonecrops for the same basic reason, namely, that many plants in the sedum genus are typically found in the wild growing on rocky or stony ledges.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for slugs and snails. Scale may occur.
Uses
Excellent ground cover. Border fronts or rock gardens. Green roof gardens. On rock walls. Best massed or in groups. Site in areas where both the foliage and flowers may be appreciated. Effective in containers.