Sedum cauticola 'Lidakense'

Perennial of the Crassulaceae family, selected from the type species native to Japan, where Hylotelephium cauticola naturally grows on exposed cliffs and rocks in the mountainous regions of Honshu. The 'Lidakense' cultivar is one of the most compact and appreciated forms in rock gardens, obtained and distributed by the British nursery Ingwersen.

It forms a spreading and cascading dome 10 to 15 cm in height, with a very characteristic semi-prostrate habit, with arching stems that readily cascade over stones or the edge of a trough. The leaves are fleshy, rounded to oval, with a remarkable glaucous blue-gray color, often tinged with purple on the margins and on the reddish stems, ensuring visual interest well before flowering.

The flowers, gathered in dense, rounded corymbs that terminate each stem, are a bright magenta-pink to deep carmine, with an intensity that strikingly contrasts with the glaucous foliage. The overall effect, with arching stems laden with floral clusters cascading from all sides, is particularly spectacular. In its natural habitat, the type species blooms from August to October. In cultivation, 'Lidakense' generally blooms from late August to October depending on the climate.

Robust and easy to maintain, it thrives in full sun in well-drained, ordinary to poor soil, and easily withstands summer drought once established. It is fully hardy in most temperate climates. Excellent in troughs, on walls, at the edge of rock gardens, or spilling over a rocky embankment, it readily attracts butterflies and bees at the end of the season.