Grow Autumn Fire Sedum for Late Season Color
Updated: Oct. 28, 2022
Learn how to grow and care of Autumn Fire sedum. Enjoy this fall flower's seasonal color, wildlife benefits and year-round interest.
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Why Grow Autumn Fire Sedum?
While some flowers are past their peak, Autumn Fire sedum is ready to shine. This sedum cultivar is known for its stunning late-summer and fall color, tidy growing habit and drought tolerance.
Sedums are incredibly easy plants for beginners or gardeners who are looking to save some time and effort. Once established, they require very little attention. Autumn Fire, like all sedums, is drought tolerant and only needs occasional watering.
Unlike some larger and unruly sedums, Autumn Fire is slightly smaller. This stout plant only grows about two feet tall and a little less wide. Because of its size, it’s less prone to flopping (which is when the stalks sag, creating a gap in the middle of the plant).
Autumn Fire is also more vibrant vs its more well-known counterpart, Autumn Joy sedum. The rose-pink blooms are slightly more intense. The thick leaves are blue-green and sit on sturdy stalks.
How to Grow Autumn Fire Sedum
- Autumn Fire
- Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Autumn Fire’
- Perennial in Zones 3 to 9
- Full Sun
You can plant Autumn Fire in poor soil, as long as it’s well-draining. It tolerates sandy and clay-heavy soil, and can be grown in a very large container. The only thing that it really needs is full sun. Divide this perennial in spring to get more plants.
Sedum Wildlife Benefits
Sedums attract a variety of pollinators—and even birds! When the rounded flower heads bloom in late summer or fall, expect an influx in late-season butterflies, bees and other helpful bugs. They all appreciate sedum’s pollen and nectar when other flowers are scarce.
It’s also important to note what Autumn Fire doesn’t attract. This fleshy plant is also rabbit resistant.
Check out the best Monarch butterfly flowers you should grow.
Sedum Winter Perks
Autumn Fire’s benefits outlast its blooms. This plant rewards laid-back gardeners who skip cleanup in fall.
Leave the stalks standing through winter to add structure and shape to your garden. The seed heads will dry out beautifully, turning a coppery-red color. They look especially pretty after a light dusting of snow.
Seed-eating birds, like goldfinches, will thank you, too. The flowers develop tiny seeds that are a helpful source of food throughout fall and winter.
Originally Published: September 28, 2021
