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Botanical name: Sedum album ‘Baby Tears’
A compact groundcover stonecrop with white flowers held atop of light green tear shaped foliage; a drought-tolerant perennial that does best in poor soils, an excellent choice for containers, edging and rock gardens.
Other names: syn. Sedum Album Chloroticum, White Stonecrop
| Hardiness zone | 4a |
|---|---|
| Flower color | white |
| Foliage type | evergreen |
| Plant form | spreading |
| Mature height | 4 inches (6 inches with the flowers) |
| Spread | 12 inches |
| Light requirements | full sun to partial shade |
| Moisture requirements | dry to moist |
| Plant origin | import |
Baby Tears Stonecrop is covered in stunning clusters of white flowers at the ends of the stems from late spring to early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive small succulent oval leaves remain grayish green in color throughout the year. The fruit is not ornamentally significant. The creamy white stems can be quite attractive.
Baby Tears Stonecrop is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Baby Tears Stonecrop is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Mass Planting, Rock/Alpine Gardens, Border Edging, General Garden Use, Groundcover, Container Planting
Baby Tears Stonecrop will grow to be only 4 inches tall at maturity extending to 6 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 15 years.
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Baby Tears Stonecrop is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
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