Common Name: white stonecrop
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Crassulaceae
Native Range: Europe, western Asia, northern Africa
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 0.25 to 0.50 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall, Evergreen
Attracts: Butterflies
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil, Air Pollution
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates very light shade. Prefers well-drained sandy to gravelly soils of moderate to low fertility. Drought and heat tolerant, particularly once established. Propagate by division or seed. Plants spread indefinitely along the ground by prostrate stems which root at the nodes. Detached leaves may root to form new plants.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Sedum album, commonly known as white stonecrop, is a creeping, mat-forming, evergreen sedum or stonecrop that is native to Europe, Siberia, western Asia and north Africa. It has escaped gardens and naturalized in Ontario, Quebec, northeastern to northcentral U.S., British Columbia south to California plus Utah. Dense foliage typically grows to 4" tall with a spread to 12-18" wide. Small, succulent, linear-oblong, cylindrical to flattened, green leaves (to 3/4" long) turn reddish brown for fall and winter. Tiny, star-like, white flowers in clusters (paniculate cymes) bloom in mid-summer above the foliage mat. Flowers are attractive to butterflies.
Genus name comes from the Latin word sedeo meaning to sit in reference to the general growing habit of many of the sedums (they sit and sprawl over rocks).
Specific epithet from Latin means white in obvious reference to the flowers.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for slugs and snails. Scale may appear.
Uses
Best when planted in groups or massed as a ground cover. May be grown in rock gardens, between stepping stones or in border fronts. Green roof gardens. Along ledges or stone walls. Site in areas where the foliage and flowers may be appreciated. Containers.