CC Flickr photo of Dragon's Blood Sedum Flower courtesy of galfred.

Dragon’s Blood Sedum (Sedum spurium, cultivar “Schorbuser Blut”) is a low perennial groundcover that grows as a dense mat and produces dazzling red to pink flowers in the summer and fall. The foliage is equally as showy as the flowers, beginning as small thick green leaves with red margins that turn to an impressive red by the fall. This sedum will create an interesting cascading effect in rock gardens or in containers. It acts as a semi-evergreen, so it will maintain some foliage throughout the year depending on where you live.

A nice thing about planting groundcovers in general is that they’ll help keep weeds down. You can easily keep this plant under control and keep it from encroaching on your other perennials as its roots won’t go too deep. Thus, it’s fairly easy to remove a clump here and there. Dragon’s Blood will grow to three to eight inches tall.

This sedum will grow best in zones 3 through 10 and should be planted in a mostly sunny spot. The more sun you give it, the brighter the flowers and leaves will be. As succulents, sedums like drier conditions and will do fine in loams, sandy or clay soils. Make sure the soil is well drained.

They also tolerate a high range of pH values, from around 3.7 to 7.3. This is an extremely hardy plant which requires minimal maintenance. It is also easy to transplant, so if you know someone who has it in their garden, ask them for a sample. You can transplant Dragon’s Blood pretty much any time during the growing season.

Dragon’s Blood works well in your garden and combines well with kaffir lilies or perennial flowers that are pink to red. This gorgeous photo from Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden will help give you an idea the effect this plant will have in your garden.

If you’re growing near the patio, look around for a great range of garden furniture sets to admire your new plants as they blossom.

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Ornamental grasses can be a welcome addition to your garden if you haven’t experimented with them before. They are great for an accent of color planted directly in your garden, and also make handsome container plants. Fescues are a cool season grass and will often retain their color through the winter. Blue Fescue is a semi-evergreen perennial with unusual bluish-gray foliage and small plumes that will appear during the summer.

Large Blue Fescue (Festuca amethystina) and the common Blue Fescue (Festuca ovinia var. glauca) are two varieties of Blue Fescue that have become quite popular. Blue Fescue is a relatively small grass which will form clumps and fit right into your rock garden. It will also look great planted in baskets and other containers. It will rarely get higher than 10”. It also works well as an edging plant if you have brick or concrete walkways or sidewalks that you’d like to accent.

This grass will do well in zones 4 to 9. Blue Fescue likes full sun to partial shade and will tolerate dry conditions when planted in a well-drained soil. If you notice that the center of your plant is dying out, you may want to add some sand to your soil to improve drainage. If you have particularly hot and dry summers, you’ll want to give this plant a good drink every now and again until things cool off. Extreme heat may cause Blue Fescue to dry out. When planting, you should space your plants about 18 inches apart. Blue Fescue is easy to transplant, so you won’t have to worry too much about crowding. Another great aspect of the Blue Fescue is that it is relatively pest free. Among other grasses, it highly recommended as a xeric grass species http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1906.html for the desert southwest.

As with any gardening, you’ll want to prepare your soil before planting your Blue Fescue. Preparing your soil in the fall is the best way to ensure a healthy environmental for your ornamental grasses. Till your soil and add plenty of organic compost. You can actually plant your Blue Fescue in the fall, but planting it in the spring will have the advantage of allowing the plant to develop a good deep root system. A good bark mulch will help your plant maintain moisture.

For more information of the Blue Fescue, check out this website from the University of Vermont http://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/grsfestu.html

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