Rhodiola rosea
Midsummer men
Also known as Sedum rosea
- Height × spread
- 0.1m × 0.15m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Flowers
- Spring
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This plant is always charming, but especially desirable in winter and spring when it sits in pretty, tight-leaved clumps of blue-grey rosettes, with pinkish beige tones at their heart. The flowers develop at the top of the plant, starry, lime green, and rather quaint. With age the plant raises itself onto chubby layers of rhizome. The dried roots of this plant are scented like roses, and rose water can be distilled from them. It stands a few centimetres high, at most 2-8cm.
- Flower colour
- Pink
- Foliage colour
- Blue, Grey
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- Yes
- Shape
- Dome
- Height
- 0.1m
- Spread
- 0.15m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer
- Flowers in
- Spring
- Evergreen
- Evergreen
- Garden style
- Seaside garden, Scented garden, Rock garden, Gravel garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- All types
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Bee attraction, Butterfly attraction
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.