Goodbye Yellow Sedum

Are you humming an Elton John tune? Good, now you know what I've been singing the past few days, only replace the lyrics "brick road" with "sedum" as in our old friend, Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'. She's out! Are you shocked? The reality is, I never planted her and she has taken over much of the labyrinth garden. Did you catch that - I never planted her. She came in on a grass a friend gave me and I liked the brightness of the sedum, so left it. That was in 2016. Fast forward to today, she has created nearly impenetrable mats of burned-yellow looking foliage. She has become the unwanted signature of this part of the garden without my even realizing it. How did this happen?

I had a feeling every time I looked at this and many other messes just like it that I wanted it out, but I never consciously admitted it. That is until after the open garden when I became free to make whatever changes I want to the garden without threat of the end result looking terrible for a while. So I decided this past weekend, all of 'Angelina' has to go in this part of the garden. I know many of you adore Angelina, and for that I am sorry for what you are about to see.

 Here she's wedging between a couple baptisia and rudbeckias.

Here she takes over a whole corner of a bed. This stuff goes underneath, through and around these grasses. I never planted it. Remember that.

 It took the better part of a day (and I'm still not completely finished) and in the end, created enough piles of the stuff for FM to haul of six wheelbarrows full of it.

 Yes, you read that right, six wheelbarrows, just like this one, full. Granted in this shot there are a few other compost items, but the majority is the sedum. The torso is FM stacking it high.

 One more time - "before"

Here's the after shot. The Bouteloua g. 'Blonde Ambition' has been given room to breathe. Only enough room for one blondie here. It looks rough now, but it will fill in. I moved a couple little guys that were being drowned out by other sedums into this newly reclaimed area such a veronica and a diascia. Plus, I never did like the burned-yellow look in this bed, which is primarily cool purples, blues and whites.

 This is where the baptisia and rudbeckias are. I have a Halimium 'Sandling' in this bed too, upper right, that was literally choked with 'Angelina'. No more, I've set him free.

This is another bed I did not have a "before" photo of, but it has been cleared of masses of Angelina and reworked. I added a few Penstemon pinifolius (orange flowers, right) and an Agave neomexicana that was being shaded out in another location. This is the hottest, sunniest part of the garden, after all, so I must take advantage of that for the agave's sake. I also moved a Santolina 'Lemon Queen' over, as it too was being shaded out.

 It will look rough for a while but I'm already so much happier with the way this looks.

Right in the middle where the Phlomis russeliana now sits was a mass of sedum and grass seedlings. I moved the phlomis here and I admit it looks rough, but it will be more balanced as a whole larger picture once it settles in. I really don't enjoy moving plants, I like to keep them where I planted them but sometimes, for the sake of the plant's survival, it must be done. 

Now for some pretty pictures. As I was photographing the "after" shots, FM was mowing the lawn and kicking up quite a dust storm. That makes for atmospheric bliss, so here's a look at the magic some dust can create. 

 The Eriophyllum lanatum or Oregon sunshine never looked better.

Heuchera 'Northern Lights' and Oscar the agave in the background. 

The foxtail lilies or Eremerus sp. are just starting to bloom. These were given to me with no i.d., I think they might be E. bungei. 

I bought seeds of Papaver rhoeas while at Kew Gardens near London last fall and many have bloomed for me. It adds a welcome, vibrant color to the very outer regions of the labyrinth garden. 

Here are the eremerus again with Digitalis lutea in front of them that were self-sown, a happy accident. 

All those santolinas or lavender cottons I cut back hard this spring have filled out nicely. Uh oh, I spy some Angelina between those two; that will be this weekend's task.

 The whole dusty scene.

With a parting shot of Stipa gigantea on the left.

So is there a lesson in my sedum problem? I'm not sure, I mean there's no wrong way to garden. It's all lessons, learning, experiencing first-hand what your garden and land can grow successfully. The sedum kind of filled a hole for a while and now it is time for it to go. I also observe that I did not pay attention - even though I saw it every day - and no one ever said "oh, my...you have a lot of sedum out there...it looks so yellow!" - not even in a sideways compliment kind of comment. So it multiplied and now the chicken yard is home to Mount Angelina.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we'd love to hear what you have to say!