Sedum Silver Stone (Stonecrop)

Broadleaf Stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) is the West Coast's own native evergreen succulent, ranging from British Columbia down through Washington, Oregon, and northern California. On our bluff just north of Port Orford, its silvery rosettes tumble out of cracks in the rock where almost nothing else will grow. It is one of only two truly PNW-native Sedums in our catalog (Sedum oreganum is the other), and the plant that most captures the character of the Oregon coast in miniature.

Tight rosettes of flat, waxy, powdery gray-silver or gray-green leaves build a 2 to 4 inch tall spreading mat. In late spring to early summer, wiry flower stalks lift small bright yellow star-shaped flowers a few inches above the foliage. Bees (honeybees and small native bees) and a range of beneficial flies work the flowers, and Sara's Orangetip butterfly is known to nectar on Sedum species in the wild.

NAEB ethnobotany records document eleven uses of Sedum spathulifolium across five Pacific Northwest Nations, including the Thompson, Okanagon, Bella Coola, Kuper Island, and Songish peoples, primarily as medicinal gynecological and dermatological aids.

Full sun to part shade. Very low water. Sharp, rocky, fast-draining soil. Plant at an angle so water never sits on the crown. Winter-hardy to Zone 5, evergreen. Deer-resistant. Genuinely coastal-tolerant, thrives in salt air.

Pairs with Armeria maritima, Eriogonum umbellatum, Dudleya farinosa, Erigeron glaucus, and Zauschneria californica for a classic PNW coastal-cliff planting.