SELECTION OF HARD-CUT SEEDS FOR A GARDEN WITHOUT WATERING (LE QUOTIDIEN DU JARDIN N°166)

NewsJardinTV, the channel that unleashes passion for plants, gardens, botany, nature, and gardening, is pleased to present this issue 166 of its daily show: "Le Quotidien du Jardin." Patrick Mioulane, editor-in-chief of NewsJardinTV, responds to our subscriber Évariste L., who asked us the following question: In a previous show, you briefly introduced a few species of stonecrops. I know there are many, and I'd like to plant some in the dry corners of my garden in the Lyon region. Could you dedicate a program to these plants that seem to require no maintenance? Indeed, in the program "Le Quotidien du Jardin," issue 158, dedicated to flowers that tolerate drought, we featured the yellow stonecrop (Sedum acre) and the fall-flowering forms now called Hylotelephium, which are the spectabile and telephium species. I offer a selection of 5 interesting species for our gardens. Stonecrops grown in the garden are mainly used for rockeries, low walls, or green roofs. If you don't have a garden, you can plant them on the balcony in decorative troughs. • Sedum makinoi, native to Japan, is a hardy perennial (-15°C) with a creeping habit (10 x 50 cm), capable of colonizing the most difficult terrain. Its long stems take root in every crevice. The small, rounded, flattened, semi-evergreen leaves, green shaded with purple, form a pretty, heterogeneous carpet. Sedum makinoi flowers in July and August, forming yellow stars that attract insects. The 'Lime' cultivar has dark stoloniferous stems with small, flattened leaves of a beautiful, bright lime green, which turn red at the end of the season. • Sedum mexicanum (Mexican stonecrop), probably native to the southern USA and Central America, has become naturalized in France. The plant, 8 to 20 cm (in flower), develops creeping or drooping stems that straighten at the tips with dense, glossy green foliage. The leaves, 1 to 2 cm long, are linear, cylindrical, sessile, mucronate, and whorled. In June and July, the corymbose inflorescences are formed by star-shaped corollas of a bright golden yellow with orange-red stamens. The cultivar 'Gold Mound', with its yellow-green foliage, is particularly popular. • Sedum oreganum (Oregon stonecrop), native to the west coast of North America, is a hardy plant that forms a cushion of large, evergreen, green leaves with a reddish sheen, arranged in rosettes. The yellow, star-shaped flowers, borne on 10 cm tall stems, bloom in July and August. They attract butterflies. • Sedum rubrotinctum (red-leaved stonecrop). Native to Mexico, it's not the hardiest (-4 to -6°C), but it thrives in a dry location and full sun, and is very comfortable in the Mediterranean climate. Sedum rubrotinctum forms a bushy clump 10 to 20 cm tall, characterized by its fleshy, ovoid, green and red leaves. The bright yellow flowers bloom in May. • Sedum spathulifolium (spade-leaved stonecrop). Native to western North America, it is an excellent ground cover, perfectly hardy in dry, sunny conditions. The plant forms rosettes of very thick, almost swollen, purplish leaves powdered with white, which grow in colonies to form a cushion 40 to 50 cm in diameter. Flowers in yellow stars from August to September. The cultivar 'Purpureum' has purple leaves covered with a white bloom. The plants shown above thrive in any light, well-drained soil, even very poor and chalky soil. Sedum plants are particularly sensitive to stagnant moisture. In winter, place a transparent cover over the clump to insulate it from the rain. It is not necessary to fertilize small ground cover species. Some stonecrops are best grown indoors, but that will be for another episode, perhaps... Thank you for watching this daily program. We hope you enjoyed our video. Our team wishes you a pleasant stay and invites you tomorrow starting at 7 p.m. for a new episode of our show: "LE QUOTIDIEN DU JARDIN." It's on NewsJardinTV and nowhere else! Patrick will answer this question: Following your show on heliconias, I'd like you to continue featuring exotic plants, such as porcelain roses. They're so surprising, and they take us on a journey...