Sedum SunSparkler Dream Dazzler - Stonecrop

Sedum 'Dream Dazzler' is a recent variety of stonecrop from the SunSparkler range, an excellent series of hybrids selected in the USA. This small creeping cushion plant is remarkably colourful and naturally very dense in vegetation. Its small succulent foliage, of variable colour, is adorned with a fine edge in shades of pink. It is particularly elegant. In summer, the colours of the foliage and the intensely pink-red flowering create a remarkable chromatic tableau. 'Dream Dazzler' is an undemanding and carefree plant that only requires a sunny exposure. Plant it along a dry path, in rockeries, as ground cover around perennial beds, or even in a pot on a patio.

The SunSparkler hybrid sedums are recent American cultivars with astonishing foliage, whose vegetation remains compact, without thinning in the centre. Sedums, or stonecrops, belong to the Crassulaceae family, which includes many species of drought-resistant succulent plants. There are many allies for dry gardens, with varied shapes and colours.

'Dream Dazzler' stands out with its pink-edged foliage. In the sun, its small fleshy leaves will be dark purple edged with bright pink. In partial shade, they will be pale-purple edged with bright pink, and in full shade their colour will be blue-green edged with white or pink. Between July and September, the vegetation is covered with short spikes of intensely pink flowers turning red, perfectly matching the foliage. They are extremely popular with pollinators. The whole forms a compact, dense and round cushion, about 40cm (16in) high and 30cm (12in) in diameter. The clump does not hollow out, unlike other varieties. The leaves are flat and ovate, arranged in clusters around the stems. This plant is completely deciduous, disappearing in late autumn and re-emerging from the ground in spring.

A blessing for gardens where the soil lacks depth, and ideal in flower pots, sedum is very much in tune with the times. With no requirements other than sunlight, it thrives in poor soils, is water-saving, naturally beautiful, and requires very little maintenance. Pair it with small grasses like the graceful stipa, muhlenbergia, bronze carex, and with grey-foliaged plants that often tolerate the same difficult living conditions. You can create an unforgettable scene by combining it with delosperma, Euphorbia myrsinites, or with ground-cover thymes (Thymus ciliatus, T. hirsutus, T. longicaulis), alchemillas, and small blue fescues ('Intense Blue'). SunSparkler sedums are magnificent in pots and containers.