Sedum 'Tricolor'
Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' · Crassulaceae
Small, rounded leaves of green edged in cream and flushed with pink, on a creeping mat, with pink flowers in summer.
- Size
- 4 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late July
- Pets
- Toxic to people
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around sedum 'Tricolor'
The planner designed this bed around sedum 'Tricolor' 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 'Tricolor' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sedum 'Tricolor' × 18, pink
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, white
- 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Wild lupine × 8, blue
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are globes, spires and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 18 plants in 4 groups (5, 5, 5 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
- Fine leaf against bold. Silver sage is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late June to late July.
- In company. With false sunflower 'Summer Nights' in late June: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. False sunflower 'Summer Nights' and little bluestem 'The Blues' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Sedum 'Tricolor' is the plant there is most of: 18 of the 45.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. 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 'Tricolor' goes in a border
At 4 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.
A three-coloured carpet for a dry edge. It is slower than plain two-row stonecrop. Pull out any shoots that turn plain green.
- Variegated groundcover in dry soil
- Edging
- Containers and troughs
What to plant with sedum 'Tricolor'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hens and chicks: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sedum 'Angelina': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about sedum 'Tricolor'
Does sedum 'Tricolor' need sun or shade?
Sedum 'Tricolor' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
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 'Tricolor' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 9. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sedum 'Tricolor' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to early August |
| Zone 5 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 6 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should sedum 'Tricolor' be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 in (10 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sedum 'Tricolor' plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 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 18 in four groups.
Is sedum 'Tricolor' poisonous?
Yes: mild toxicity to people. May cause mild stomach upset if eaten.
Rated from NC State Extension. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Do deer eat sedum 'Tricolor'?
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 'Tricolor' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by rooting stems into a mat. Easy to pull up.
What flowers after sedum 'Tricolor'?
Sedum 'Tricolor' is over by late July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium': from mid July to late August, 18 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
What does sedum 'Tricolor' look like in winter?
Sedum 'Tricolor' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
Is sedum 'Tricolor' good for bees and butterflies?
Sedum 'Tricolor' is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and songbirds.
More Sedum
- Goldmoss stonecrop Sedum acre
- Russian stonecrop Sedum kamtschaticum
- Sedum 'Angelina' Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'
- Sedum 'Blue Spruce' Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce'
- Sedum 'John Creech' Sedum spurium 'John Creech'
- Tasteless stonecrop Sedum sexangulare
- White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' Sedum album 'Coral Carpet'
- Woodland stonecrop Sedum ternatum
In these guides
- Plants for slopes and banks
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 4 in (10 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late June to late July; dense clusters; pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; variegated, green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Crassulaceae
- Comes from
- North Eastern Turkey to Northern Iran
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, pollution, erosion
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.