I'm bumping this thread because I just bought Sedum Matrona and have a question. This specimen is gorgeous -- not flowering but quite tall and bright green with some budding...no sign of distress at all. Soil doesn't look at rocky as some of the other found in the containers of the succulents I bought today but it's dry to the touch on the top. I bought it for a location under my 15 ft tall deck. The deck is south sun facing and the soil underneath is INCREDIBLY rocky. Like so rocky my husband had a use a jack hammer to get into the soil to build our deck. We're also on a bit of a slope. Anyway, I've been wanting to get some sedums for down there since I know some of them do well in partial shade...I can plant them next to the posts so they'll be slightly shaded/protected from excess moisture but mostly in a sunny location. Question is: How do I know if my soil is well draining? I'm assuming it is since it's so darn rocky but what do I know? The answer is: next to nothing. This is a new hobby of mine. Anyway, do I want to try and dig a hole for this sedum or should I just keep it in the pot (or get a larger one) and prop it up next to one of the outermost deck posts?

Put them in the soil if you have a garden, if my memory still is working they don't like the heat and naturally shut down during the summer months, stop watering get them out of the rain, and set them in the coolest place you can find. Perhaps they will come back, only God will know. I certainly can not guarantee that. Only whater when you see new growth, remove all rot. Less water is more. I have always said a grow my plants hard, and with no peat moss and this is the reason why. I don't care how little you paid, if they don't live you didn't get a bargain. this is a lesson we all must learn. Norma

Muddydog I thought your opening statement was rude & moronic; unnecessarily hostile to a kind person looking to help out fellow plant lovers. I can only assume it comes from you being somehow monetarily linked to the retail side (money driving meanness). Sure there is truth to a similar thought, that it's important to support our local nurserymen & women, but there is nothing wrong with a little scavenging clearance items. If you really wanted to support the locals, then instead of your nasty little whining about 90 cent clearance items, you should be *kindly* extolling the virtues of local nursery stock & service. Crypper there is nothing wrong with Sedum Matrona on clearance. It's bulletproof. The common sedums always go on sale in the early winter at the box stores and they're always an excellent value for beginners because they always survive. Once you grow them for a couple years though, you'll be wanting to visit the better nurseries to get the more elite cultivars. :^) - Tom

i will add some more ... NEVER USE ANY INSECTICIDE UNTIL YOU IDENTIFY THE CULPRIT .... NEVER APPLY TWO INSECTIDES UNTIL YOU ID THE CULPRIT ... never fertilize a sedum .. they grow in the worst of conditions. ... consider where you bought it... what the sun was where you bought it .. and do NOT put a plant that was in shade out into the blistering sun in the middle of summer, or it will go into shock .. it will sunburn .. and its over all vigor will decrease ... save your amendments for foo foo plants like roses that are high end feeders ... and need all the TLC ... and if you figure out how to kill these things... let us know.. they are about as bullet proof a plant as there is .... i think you are trying to kill it with too muck love .... PLEASE...NEVER EVER APPLY INSECTICIDES WILLY NILLY .... there has to be a specific need for a specific remedy ... and NEVER use a tree and shrub product on a perennial ... if someone at a store suggested such ... and for a sedum ... go talk with the manager.. and discuss the ramifications of selling you snake oil .... and do NOT go back there for 'help' as far as sedum go .... i am on pure sand .... i NEVER fertilize them .. i never water them [except at transplant] and i ignore them but for one glance when they flower .. they do just fine ... and they still overgrow and flop over ... they just don't need the love you are giving them ... sorry for the lecture.. and i note you are new to gardening .... i think you are making this all much harder than it should be ... but a plant.... dig a hole.. stick the plant in ... do NOT fertilize at transplant ... learn proper watering for each plant ... and step away ... bugs come.. bugs go .. and frankly pesticides are rarely needed ... most plants do just fine in nature.. and really don't need your help .. a little mulch will help temper heat waves and drought .... a little TLC here and there surely doesn't hurt ... i wish you all the luck int he world with your new hobby .. ken PS: the picture looks like sunburn .. i suspect it went from a protected nursery .. into to the blistering sun.. at the wrong time of year.. had you planted it in spring... it would have had time to acclimate to the sun, while the sun was at a lower declination .. and by summer it would have been fine... transplanting should be done in early spring or early fall when the sun is lower.. and the nights [and days are cooler] .. giving them some time to get the roots pumping water before the next heat wave ... plants i buy this time of year.. i keep potted in the shade until proper planting time .... to avoid such shock .. right now i have at least 100 pots ready for fall planting.... you would think at some point i would stop buying plants.. lol .. timing is everything ... when you begin to understand all that is in this paragraph ... you will be able to succeed, beyond your wildest dreams ... and finally .. you are not a true gardeners until you have killed at least one of each plant .... and that is how you learn ...