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Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' (Golden Sedum) - An evergreen rapidly growing plant to 2 to 5 inches tall with a prostrate, creeping habit. Its needle-like, succulent foliage is at first a lime green color in spring that ages to a brilliant golden-yellow color and topped off with yellow star shaped flowers that rise up on 6 to 8 inch stems in June and July. In fall the foliage takes on an orange hue.
Plant in full sun to partial shade in well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally - can handle periods of drought but looks best with regular to periodic watering. This plant is very hardy and can be used in all garden zones in California (Hardy to USDA Zone 3). It is an easy, tough plant that is great in hanging baskets, rock gardens, raised planters, in containers or as a groundcover so long as drainage is adequate. Though this plant has proven itself elsewhere, it seems to only lasts a couple years in the ground here in the mediterranean climate of California. We recommend this plant for use in containers or for a tough short lived accent planting.
Sedum rupestre is a species that ranges through central and western Europe from sand dunes near sea level up to 7,000 feet in the Pyrenees Mountains and was introduced in the Middle Ages to Ireland as a salad crop. The name for the genus comes from the Latin word 'sedo' meaning "to sit," in reference to the manner in which some species attach themselves to stones or walls. The specific epithet means "rock loving" from the Latin word 'rupes' meaning "cliff" or "rock" in reference to where this species typically grows. In 1984 Sedum rupestre and related plants previously considered part of a series called the Rupestria group or Sedum rupestre group were segregated from the very large cosmopolitan and polyphyletic genus Sedum and placed in a new genus called Petrosedum by the Czch botanist Vit Grulich and Sedum rupestre was redescribed that same year as Petrosedum rupestre by the English botanist Paul V. Heath, but even more than forty years later this plant is still most commonly listed by nurseries as a Sedum so we continue to list it as such as well. The prefix 'petro' means "rock" so the combination means "rock sedum".
The cultivar 'Angelina' was discovered by Mr. Christian Kress of Sarastro Nursery in Austria. Mr. Kress saw the plant in a private garden while vacationing in Croatia and he named it Angelina, after the wife of owner of the garden. This plant long had a US Plant Patent pending but the application was filed in 2002, just as the patent office was changing rules regarding prior sales and plant patents. This plants patent fell victim to these rule changes and the patent was formally abandoned in September 2008. We have been selling this plant since 2003.
The information displayed on this page about Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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