Sedum 'Angelina'
Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' · Crassulaceae
A brilliant golden-yellow carpet of needle-like leaves that turns orange and amber in winter. It grows fast and roots as it goes.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers mid June to mid July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around sedum 'Angelina'
The planner designed this bed around sedum 'Angelina' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why sedum 'Angelina' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sedum 'Angelina' × 8, chartreuse leaves
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 8, pink
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 6 Wild lupine × 5, blue
- 7 Saffron crocus × 12, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- A classic partner for saffron crocus. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 5 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 68% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Beside saffron crocus. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 15 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 55 to 45, left to right. Something is in flower for 25 weeks, from mid May to early November.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where sedum 'Angelina' goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The brightest gold available at ground level, and at its best beside dark or blue foliage. It is easy to pull out where it goes too far.
- Gold groundcover for dry sun
- Spilling over walls and pots
- Winter colour
What to plant with sedum 'Angelina'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Blue Spruce': happy in the same dry soil.
- Black mondo grass: spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (8 in) to stand behind it.
- Hens and chicks: happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about sedum 'Angelina'
Does sedum 'Angelina' need sun or shade?
Sedum 'Angelina' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does sedum 'Angelina' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should sedum 'Angelina' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sedum 'Angelina' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is sedum 'Angelina' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like sedum 'Angelina'?
Sedum 'Angelina' comes from Europe, Turkey. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Pussytoes: the same job in a bed; 4 in narrower, not evergreen.
- Beach wormwood 'Silver Brocade': the same job in a bed and the same size; medium leaves, not fine, not evergreen.
- Creeping phlox 'Candy Stripe': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid April to mid May, wants average soil.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat sedum 'Angelina'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will sedum 'Angelina' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads steadily by creeping stems. It is easy to pull out, but needs a firm edge.
What does sedum 'Angelina' look like in winter?
Sedum 'Angelina' keeps its chartreuse leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for winter colour as well.
More Sedum
- Goldmoss stonecrop Sedum acre
- Russian stonecrop Sedum kamtschaticum
- Sedum 'Blue Spruce' Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce'
- Sedum 'John Creech' Sedum spurium 'John Creech'
- Sedum 'Tricolor' Sedum spurium 'Tricolor'
- Tasteless stonecrop Sedum sexangulare
- White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' Sedum album 'Coral Carpet'
- Woodland stonecrop Sedum ternatum
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to mid July; dense clusters; yellow
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; chartreuse
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Crassulaceae
- Comes from
- Europe, Turkey
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil, pollution
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.