Art in the garden: Succulents in the summer garden

The hot, scorching days of summer can be as difficult for plants as they are for people, but the thick, fleshy leaves, roots and stems of succulents help them through the hottest, driest part of summer with minimal assistance. This is good news, both for the plants and for the gardeners who care for them.

Although heat and drought tolerance are worthy attributes, they are not the only reason to plant succulents. The plumped up, rounded foliage of succulents provides textural contrast to finer and thinner leafed garden favorites. Choose a trailing or creeping variety to edge a border, round out a container or add to a rock garden, or an upright type that can take center stage. Some are hardy perennials that will return year after year. Some are more tender, but are easy to grow as houseplants during the winter months.

Hardy perennials

Sedum is perhaps the most familiar succulent to people in this area. These versatile plants blend nicely into the garden border and most have a very long bloom time.

Autumn Joy is widely planted in commercial landscapes because of its reliability as well as its adaptability and exceptionally long bloom time, from August all the way through October. Its large flower heads are held atop sturdy, bushy plants. Flowers start out a deep, saturated pink, progressing to salmon, and finally to bronze late in the season.

It combines well with ornamental grasses, as well with other late flowering perennials such as coneflower and black-eyed Susan, as well as other drought-tolerant plants such as globe thistle and artemisia.

Slightly shorter than Autumn Joy, with a similar habit, Autumn Charm is a variegated variety with creamy-edged foliage. It flowers in September, and blooms progress in color from white to pink to red.

For showstopping color, plant Neon. It has brilliant, deep electric-pink flowers over upright, succulent green foliage in September and October.

Not all sedums are upright and bushy. Sedum reflexum (Jenny Stonecrop), for example, is a great rock garden plant, low-growing and trailing, with starry yellow flowers in June. Its blue-green foliage is needlelike and evergreen. Dragons Blood is another low-grower, with bronzy leaves and deep pink to red flowers in mid to late summer.

Although they are considered full sun plants, most types of Sedum will tolerate some light shade. All require good drainage. Spreading varieties can be cut back to maintain their shape. Division should be done in the spring.

Sempervivum (Hens and Chicks) might not be as familiar, but they make great additions to the sunny perennial garden. Their diminutive size makes them excellent for planting in rock gardens or in the crevices of a garden wall. They have an interesting growth habit, with colorful leaves that grow in tight rosettes, flower when mature, then die off, producing new rosettes on lateral stems and eventually forming small colonies.

Cobweb is an unusual variety. Its pale green foliage is covered in fine, silky hairs that really do resemble cobwebs. Its rose pink, star-shaped flowers bloom in August.

For deep, dramatic foliage color, try Purple Beauty. It features dark reddish purple leaves topped with fuzzy white flowers.

Plant Hens and Chicks in an area that receives full sun and has well-drained soil. Transplant offsets in the spring.

Annuals and tender perennials

For bright color in a difficult hot, dry, sunny spot, moss rose is hard to beat. It thrives in the poorest soil where other plants would languish, and rewards the gardener with single or double roselike flowers in brilliant shades of pink, rose, white or yellow. Full day sun is important for moss roses, as the flowers will not open while they are

shaded. These low-growing, trailing plants are annuals, but they frequently self-sow, often perpetuating themselves for several seasons on their own.

Those who are interested in container gardening might want to try Sedevaria Jet Beads. A hybrid created by crossing sedum and echeveria, this plant features green pointy leaves that look as though they are strung like beads along the stems. In cooler temperatures, the leaves are black-tipped. It reaches only 4 to 8 inches in height, and while not hardy in our zone, it can be grown in bright light as a houseplant over the winter.

Another tender succulent that is fun to grow in containers is Kalanchoe thyrisflora, also known as Flapjack Plant or Paddle Plant. This small, clumping plant features large, oval, flattened, grayish green leaves and adds a coarse texture to plantings. As an added bonus, when grown in full sun, the leaf margins turn red. Grow outdoors in part sun, indoors in bright, filtered light.

Jade plant is a traditional houseplant that can be grown outside for the summer. For a miniature version of this plant, try Baby Jade, or for knockout color, try Campfire. Its leaves are a striking yellow green, tipped with a brilliant red orange. It stays small, too, growing only to about 6 to 12 inches tall. Jade plants like bright light and good drainage. Water them infrequently, especially when plants are dormant in winter.

ŸMaureen Safarik is a horticulturist affiliated with The Planter’s Palette, 28W217 Roosevelt Road, Winfield, IL 60190. Call (630) 293-1040 or visit planterspalette.com.