A super hardy stonecrop of southern Mexico, Sedum Nussbaumerianum Coppertone loves to hang out on rocky cliffs and low hills, named to honor (but not discovered by) Ernst Nussbaumer, head gardener of prestigious botanical garden, Bremen Botanic Garden in Germany. It's a groundcover by nature with multitudes of rosette tips of chubby, almond shaped leaves that stack on their stems in a many pointed starry shape, closely touching each other and totally obscuring the stem until the rosette stars rise up and lose their oldest lower leaves. Some plants will stretch with thinner leaves and show stem between them for some reason only known to themselves. They actually don't rise that high, 8" is the norm give or take a few inches, wanting rather to spread and cover that ground. The plants start out a glowing lime green and with the sunshine happening they flame out in glowing oranges and the rusty copper, hence the moniker Coppertone. Expect also tangerine, lemon, peach, apricot and flaming scarlet on your plants, they all go their own way and create their own beautiful palette. Planted outside in warm climes the sun will bring out the red/orange/coppers but just wait for a late fall cold snap and the whole planting will magically change to brilliant orange with red edging and stay that way forever (it becomes slow and somewhat dormant in winter) until the fresh new springy green tips sprout out again and mix with the oranges. Any part of Coppertone's so easy to pinch for shape and every fallen leaf or pinched bit will sprout anew on damp soil. Needless to say, your brightest light is needed for this guy. You need to see these colors. This is the most carefree and easy plant to have, absolutely no care at all beyond the occasional water. Whenever he feels like it a big, Dandelion poufball of flowers will burst out of the tips made up of a crowd of white, 5 petal stars with a faint but sweet scent.
- Drought Tolerant
- Low Maintenance
Quick Care Guide:
- Water - Low (1): Needs very little water to survive. Wait until the plant is completely dry then fully soak. Drought tolerant by nature.
- High - (5): Plant needs a lot of light; direct is even better. These plants do best when placed on a window sill or next to a bright window. Avoid concentrated, hot light from window which may cause burning (magnifying glass effect).
- Difficulty - Low (1): These plants need barely any attention to thrive. Set it and forget it.