Little Miss Sunshine



Sedum (Stonecrop)

How can you fail to notice this little patch of sunshine in a garden.  This plant is a self-seeder that has decided to grow in a patch of gravel and really brightens up its little corner.  It is easy to propagate from cuttings of non-flowering shoots or by division.  It has also seeded itself on the flat roof of our house extension, but I have never seen it in flower there, so we have a 'living' roof.  In our nearby market town I noticed that one of the bus shelters has also been planted as a living roof - I wonder how many other people have noticed it, not many I bet.  I think a 'living roof' is a great idea and would like to add to it in some way, but I am not sure of what plants would be suitable.  A bit of research is needed I think. I know you can buy roof mats which are already planted with sedum that you just lay on the roof which is another good idea, although the cost may be restrictive - maybe something to look into.

There are quite a few ways of decorating your house outdoors, using trellis for climbing plants in pots where there is no soil.  Or maybe, as in our case, growing downwards - we have a bay window which has a flat roof - I could put containers around the edge and plant climbers without support so that they trail downwards. 

So. if you run out of planting space in the garden - with just a bit of lateral thinking - you could increase your growing capacity quite considerably.