Sedum ‘Jose Aubergine’
I first came across this newish form of Stonecrop at an open day of our main perennial wholesale nursery a year or two ago, and wow, planted en masse it made a bold, lasting and beautiful impression. Since then, I have regularly recommended it for clients’ gardens, and indeed have planted it in my own garden and am much impressed.
Description
Sedum ‘Jose Aubergine’ is a stunning, intensely coloured perennial, with dusky purple foliage with a grey bloom, and deep smoky pink flowers in late summer that darken through early autumn and hold until winter. It is also compact (growing to about 50cm high), stocky and easy to manage.
Sadly we couldn’t find many photos licensed for commercial use to show you here, but there are plenty of images for you to see on Google and Flickr:
Where to use it
Planted in a bold group, it looks good with other late summer flowering plants such as Penstemon ‘Garnet’ and late Salvias. But I think it really comes into its own when planted with other dusky or hot coloured plants that herald the end of summer and the start of autumn such as golden Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’, deep purple Aster amellus ‘Violet Queen’ or paler Aster frikartii ‘Monch’. It also works well with the grey green leaves and mauve flowers of Caryopteris, or the autumn leaf hues of Euonymus alatus, Ceratostigma, and Liquidambar. It also associates well with the grey grasses such as Festuca glauca.
Planting & Plant Care Tips
It prefers an open, sunny, well drained site, but will cope with light shade, and, like other Sedums, is much loved by bees.
It needs very little maintenance. The plants retain a few neat evergreen basal leaves throughout the winter (helpful as you can see where they are!). The dead flower heads just need cutting off at the base – this can be done in the autumn or early winter, although some people prefer to leave doing this until early spring as the dead flower heads are quite attractive in their own right during the winter months, especially when frosty.
So, go on, be bold and give it a go!
Image credits: Quinn Dombrowski, Google.