I'm sorry your sedum is not thriving. This is the weirdest thing because none of mine did this year either. Not the Angelina, not the Ogon, none of them. They all rotted from the center out. There is still a little of the Angelina left, but I think it's going fast. Too humid maybe? I have had great luck with sedums until this year. And, they did beautifully in the spring. As soon as summer hit, they started their decline. Never seen anything like it.

Yes! That's exactly what mine has been doing...from the center. Doesn't get a lot of water as it's around the mailbox and the sprinkler doesn't do a good job there. I have one other sedum in the same area and it seems to be doing fine. It would have covered the area by now had it not died.

That's where mine are too! Around the mailbox! OK, what gives? For awhile, I thought it might be neighborhood dogs "visiting;" however, all of my other plants in that area are doing well, so I don't think that's it. I amended the soil in the area, adding some coarse sand and rock mulch, and...as I said...in the spring, they did wonderfully. As soon as those temps started going up though, they started to rot from the center outward. I asked a friend of mine who gardens and she says that she has never had good luck with sedums in the ground. In fact, she said she doesn't believe the hype about sedums and sun. Her sedums do best in pots UNDER her patio tables where they get shade. When she pulls them out into the sun, they rot. But, then we see all these magazines that tell us, "Plant sedums, plant sedums, plant sedums!" because they are so drought tolerant.

Esh or GGG -- if you read this, what are your thoughts?

A little extra research this morning revealed something called Southern Blight, which could be the problem. Hotter temps, with intermittent rains can lead to it and it affects sedums as well as perennials like hostas, and black-eyed susans, etc. Removal of the plant, drying out the soil, and soil amendment are recommended. That could be our problem. But, could also just be root rot, caused by the same conditions combined with the clay soil around here. I guess I just didn't amend the soil well enough, in any case. I may try again when the temps cool down some.

Good research, mk87! I vote for Southern Blight since I know mine were very dry. They were even trailing over the cement curb and into the street. It seems like a lot of work to sterilize the soil so I wonder if spraying with one of the chemicals will work. The other flowers there seem to be thriving. Not sure any of the sedums will survive now. It's one step forward and two backward! That area was looking so pretty...sigh...

i have several sedums on the shaded side of my house and they're spreading like wildfire, they've gone from a pint sized pot to literally filling a 3' x 3' area within 8-9 months. seems like all of the ones in full sun died over this summer. didn't look very closely at how they went, though.

my experiences for success with some of the groundcover sedums echo satellitehead's - try them in afternoon shade in our part of the country. 'blue spruce' has spread nicely for me where it gets morning sun and bright, filtered light thereafter.
even the large-growing one 'autumn joy' gets shade after mid-day in my beds.

In my experience, this Sedum needs exceptionally well-drained soil. The only place it seems to thrive in my garden is where it's growing in straight rock dust on the edge of a stone patio. Even there, it suffers a bit with high humidity/hot temps/rain, but as soon as the temps cool down, it starts kicking butt again.

I just received a brief response to this same question, I emailed to the Georgia Gardener folks (Walter Reeves and Co). The response was...I have to say...pretty vague...(sorry...just calling it as I see it) but suggested that it might be actually the gravel itself that is the problem because it would hold water. I thought that the whole point of the pea gravel is that it helps with drainage! Maybe the problem is, we aren't planting the right KINDS of sedums for the high humidity we have here? Or maybe sedums really are just better suited for a drier climate such as the mid-west?

I would go along with the gravel thing but...mine are just planted in the ground...no mulch of any kind. They had spread over the curb and draped into the street. They even bloomed there. Here in Macon we had been in such a drought at the time that it couldn't have been that. I'm still leaning toward Southern Blight myself. I wonder if I should pull up the remaining sick sedum and replant something. But what? I used sedum because it is hard to water up at the street and I thought sedums required less water. What are your thoughts, mk87?

amyta -- I'm in Macon also! Nice to meet a neighbor! Have you seen the sedums over at Society Gardener, on Ingleside? They do just what sedums are reported to do...which is to root pretty much everywhere they drop and just crawl all over the hard surfaces like pebble, stone, concrete, packed clay and etc. They also probably get a pretty fair amount of water, due to the owners watering all of the other plants, in pots which sit right on top of the ground with the sedum. BUT...what I have noticed is that there is a LOT of shade over there at SG. I am thinking that the drainage matters but I'm starting to be like my friend who grows the sedums in containers UNDER her patio table...and echoing what jeff_al said earlier: they appear to need some shade. But, that's not answering your question. I think it might be good to remove the sedum since it appears to be so damaged (and I'll probably do the same with mine when it gets a tad cooler and I feel like getting back out there) and replace it. Since I'm not an authority, I can only tell you that out there by the mailbox where I had my sedum (and they died just like yours), other plants did quite well (and still are), including Mexican feather grass, Nana coreopsis, lemon thyme, Japanese Sunsation barberry, miniature false cypress, and Blue Pacific shore juniper. Also, I have some White Lightning trailing lantana out there that is doing quite well. Good luck with it. I know you are probably just as frustrated as my hubby and I are about it. It is hard when you think you are doing a good thing and trying to be environmentally responsible, and it doesn't work out quite like you planned. But, then again, that's why gardening is fun...lots of surprises...unfortunately, not all of the surprises are happy ones! :)

amyta -- Just thought of something. I may check with Kathy (She is a Master Gardener) over at the Rutland Ace and ask her about this. Don't know why I didn't think of this before, but she has been a big help this season with ordering some great plants for me and also just some good advice. Also, I might pop over to SG later in the week and just ask them if they ever have experienced anything like this with their sedums. I'll post here, if I find out anything.

Thanks for all the info, neighbor. Haven't been to Society Gardener this year but now I'm going just to see their sedums. And I didn't know about Kathy at Rutland Ace. That's good to know. Sometimes I ask at Johnson's Garden Center but you have to catch Terry Johnson to get an answer you can trust. I've just about gotten to the "whatever" point with this. We have some grass die-out that Terry said was due to fungus so my husband suggested that I could spray with what he recommended for the grass. I haven't seen an improvement with the grass so I'm not sure I want to go to the trouble in this heat. I can't grow ajuga or peace lily either and everyone can do them.

I hate to say it, but I agree with you about Johnson's. I have been disappointed with them more than once. I split up most of our landscaping budget between the Forsyth Rd Ace, Rutland Ace, the Zebulon Rd Lowes and I do get a few things at SG. All four of those seem to be making a sincere effort on the drought-tolerant plants and they seem to take care of their stock. I also know one of the vendors that services the Zeb Rd Lowes and she is very knowledgeable. Sometimes, for trees and shrubs, I will get things from the John Deere Landscape place out on Thomaston Rd or Agape Village; if the price is right.

I use something called "Immunox" on our St. Augustine grass for fungus; but I've never used it in my perennial areas, so I couldn't for sure recommend it. Frank Funderburke actually told me about the "Immunox," and it's worked really well every time on the grass. You might take a look at the label and see if it's safe for perennials. I think it's a Bayer product? Really easy to use.

Oh yeah, btw, I did call out to Rutland Ace and Barry (Kathy was out of the store this afternoon) said there have been a LOT of rot problems this year, that they are not used to seeing. He did mention the Southern Blight issue too.

amyta -- Went to Society Gardener this past week and, I'm sorry to say, they've changed a lot of things around in there, and they did NOT have as many sedums as they used to have just growing around in cracks in the paths, etc. So there goes that theory. Didn't have a chance to ask them if the sedums had all died (like ours) or if they just pulled them up when they moved the display. (Don't know why they would've done that though.)