Friday 2 September 2011

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.


5 comments:

  1. The flower heads on this Sedum are lovely. Sedum is one of my favorites.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. Patch of sunshine is a great way to describe this. Sorry I haven't been around much. I probably won't be around much until mid-week now. Life is getting in the way of blogging. LOL.

    Have a wonderful weekend, my friend.

    Diane

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  3. That will never do Diane - I have missed you. Have a good weekend yourself.

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  4. It is always nice to have a spot of sunshine in the garden.

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  5. Living roofs, and vertical gardening, are very much the in-thing at the moment! Flighty xx

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