Seasonal interest continues on the Herbaceous Beds in the form of Sedum telephium ‘Matrona’.
Occurring in northern hemisphere mountains to arid regions of South America the genus Sedum includes approximately 400 species of succulent annuals, biennials, perennials and shrubs. Sedum telephium is a hardy species with a natural range of Europe and Asia. It is a clump-forming perennial with erect stems bearing terminal cymes of star-shaped flowers. The fleshy leaves of ‘Matrona’ have a purple tinge, while the flowers are a rich pink, and become deeper in colour with age. Growing to 60cm and enjoying full sun this is a good plant for the front of the border. It is also a valuable food source for bees, butterflies and hoverflies. ‘Matrona’ was introduced to our gardens by the German Edwald Hugin in the 1990’s who selected it from seedlings of S. telephium ssp. maximum ‘Atropurpureum’.