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White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'

Sedum album 'Coral Carpet' · Crassulaceae

White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' (Sedum album 'Coral Carpet') in flower
Photo: (c) Thierry Arbault, some rights reserved (CC BY), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

A flat mat of tiny, bead-like leaves that open salmon-orange, turn green in summer and go red-bronze in winter.

Size
3 in tall, 18 in wide
Zones
3 to 9
Light
Full sun
Flowers
Mid June to mid July
Pets
Toxic to people
Job in a bed
Carpet

A bed built around white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'

The planner designed this bed around white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' stands where it does.

A 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) bed at eye level in late June: White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet', Sea thrift, Little bluestem 'The Blues', False sunflower 'Summer Nights', Silver sage, Wild lupine, Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation', Pink lily leek.
A 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun, seen from the path in late June.
4. False sunflower 'Summer Nights'44. False sunflower 'Summer Nights'44. False sunflower 'Summer Nights'43. Little bluestem 'The Blues'33. Little bluestem 'The Blues'33. Little bluestem 'The Blues'33. Little bluestem 'The Blues'33. Little bluestem 'The Blues'35. Silver sage51. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'12. Sea thrift22. Sea thrift22. Sea thrift22. Sea thrift22. Sea thrift21. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'16. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine67. Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'77. Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'76. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine66. Wild lupine61. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'11. White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'17. Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'78. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek8. Pink lily leek
From above, to scale. Each circle is one plant, as wide as the room it needs.

The plants

  1. 1 White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' × 15, white
  2. 2 Sea thrift × 5, pink
  3. 3 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
  4. 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
  5. 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
  6. 6 Wild lupine × 8, blue
  7. 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
  8. 8 Pink lily leek × 12, pink

Why this plant

  • The only dense clusters. The others are globes, spires and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
  • The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.

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.
  • 15 plants in 4 groups (5, 5, 3 and 2). 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 mid June to mid July.
  • Part of the bed's peak. With sea thrift, wild lupine and pink lily leek in mid June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
  • 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. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and white and tan to calm things between them. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' and wild lupine.

The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' goes in a border

At 3 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 mainstay of green roofs: it lives on almost nothing. Any piece that breaks off will root, so it travels. Use it between stones and on dry walls.

  • Green roofs
  • Between paving stones
  • Dry walls and gravel

What to plant with white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'

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.
  • Sedum 'Angelina': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
  • Creeping thyme: in flower together for five weeks, from mid June; happy in the same dry soil.

Questions about white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'

Does white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' need sun or shade?

White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' flower in my zone?

In zone 5 it flowers mid June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.

Roughly when white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' is in flower
Zone 3Late June to mid July
Zone 4Late June to mid July
Zone 5Mid June to mid July
Zone 6Mid June to mid July
Zone 7Early June to early July
Zone 8Early June to early July
Zone 9Late May to late June

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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 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 3 in (8 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.

How many white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 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 15 in four groups.

Is white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' poisonous?

Yes: mild toxicity to people. The acrid sap can irritate skin, and causes stomach upset if eaten.

Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.

Do deer eat white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'?

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 white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' spread?

It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by rooting stems, and broken pieces root where they fall. Easy to pull up.

What flowers after white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet'?

White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:

What does white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' look like in winter?

White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' keeps its green and red leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.

Is white stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' good for bees and butterflies?

White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.

More Sedum

In these guides

Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9

In flower in: June · July

Every fact on record

Type
Perennial (groundcover)
Size
3 in (8 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
Mid June to mid July; dense clusters; white, pink
Leaves
Fine texture, evergreen; green, red
Shape
Mat-forming, spreading
Hardy in
USDA zones 3 to 9
Light
Full sun
Soil
Lean, dry and sharply drained
Water
Low
Feeding
None needed
Family
Crassulaceae
Comes from
Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
Attracts
Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
Stands up to
Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil

Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists 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.