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A Birdbath Full of Sedums

Empty out the water and fill the birdbath with drought tolerant plants

Jun 6, 2006

Garden tours can be a source for creative ideas to take home and recreate in your own gardens. Today's article will help you create your own birdbath full of sedums.

Several of my gardening friends participated in a garden tour in May. Their gardens were chosen based on plant selections, hardscaping, design, and art. My favorite container this year was a creative garden project, a birdbath full of sedums. I'm sure it wasn't an article on the bird flu that led this gardener, Troy, to empty out the water. In Troy's garden there are a series of streams and ponds that the birds can drink from. He probably got tired of scrubbing the birdbath, had a few extra plants on hand and, next thing you know, there are plants in the birdbath.

Some plants that would be ideal for this garden project are ones that have contrasting foliage. Use different color foliage such as red, yellow and green. Foliage size can range from the larger leaves of Vera Jamison to the smaller leaves of Angelina. In the center of his birdbath sedum garden, Troy had a couple of rocks. The smooth rocks added more contrast in texture with the foliage of the plants.

A few sedums to try include:

Angelina - small bright yellow foliage. It will softly drape over the side of the birdbath.
Bon Bon - round burgundy leaves with pink summer flowers.
Coral Reef - rounded green foliage with gold and pink edges.
Jenny's Stonecrop - similar to Angelina but with blue grey foliage and yellow flowers.
Sunset Cloud - purple grey foliage with wine red flowers.
Vera Jamison - large foliage that is deep purple with light pink flowers.

Your plant collection doesn't have to be limited to sedums. Hardy Ice Plant will give you bright pink summer flowers in the daytime. Woolly Thyme has fragrant creeping grey foliage that will help fill the gaps. Sedge (Carex) will add to the garden soft grass-like foliage without the larger mature size of most ornamental grasses. Treasure Island and Evergold Sedges are good ones to try. This might be a good place to try more aggressive plants such as Goldilocks Lysimachia and Chameleon Houttuynia. And, don't forget Hens & Chicks (Sempervivum) - they belong in this garden.

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