Sedum Touchdown Flame Info
If you are a slightly lazy gardener, Sedum ‘Touchdown Flame’ may be the plant for you. It is almost too polite in its needs and asks little of the grower but appreciation and a sunny location. With that little input you can enjoy its various stages from spring until winter. As an added bonus, it will un-fussily reward you for neglect by coming back up in flame colored glory the next spring. Consider growing a Touchdown Flame plant. It will add powerful punch to the garden paired with confidence building low maintenance care. One of the best things about sedums is their tolerance. Touchdown Flame thrives in a sunny location with well-draining soil and has moderate drought tolerance once established. This plant also has three seasons of interest. In spring, its rosy leaves spiral up from rosettes, developing into 12 inch (30.5 cm.) tall, thick stems. The leaves progress to reddish brown, finishing as olive green with deeper green backs. And then there’s the flowers. The buds are a deep chocolate-purple, turning creamy white when open. Each flower is a tiny star gathered into a larger terminal cluster. This flower bundle ages into beige and stands straight and tall until a heavy snow knocks it over.
How to Grow Touchdown Flame Sedums
Sedum ‘Touchdown Flame’ is suitable for United States Department of Agriculture zones 4 to 9. These tough, little perennials need a full sun location and well-draining soil. Plant them 16 inches (41 cm.) apart. Keep new plants moderately moist and remove weeds from the area. Once plants establish, they can survive brief periods of drought. They are also salt tolerant. There is no need to deadhead, as the dried flowers provide an interesting note in the late season garden. By spring, new rosettes will peek through soil, sending up stems and soon buds. Sedums have few pest or disease problems. Bees will act like magnets to the glowing white flower’s nectar. It is not recommended to try growing a Touchdown Flame plant from its seed. This is because they are usually self-sterile and even if they are not, the resulting pup will not be a clone of the parent. The easiest way to grow new plants is from division of the root ball in early spring. You can also lay stems on their sides on top of a soilless mixture such as moistened sand. In a month or so, they will send out roots. Herbaceous stem cuttings such as these produce clones. Leaves or stems will send out roots if place in sun and kept moderately dry. It is that easy to replicate the plants and increase your collection of a many-season wonder.
