Hylotelephium (syn. Sedum) ‘Purple Emperor’
‘Purple Emperor’ is a regal-looking, hybrid sedum cultivar with darkish violet foliage and pinkish-red blooms.
Violet leaves aren’t too widespread within the plant kingdom, and ‘Purple Emperor’ creates a putting visible distinction with the usually inexperienced leaves of surrounding crops.
Rising 12 to 18 inches tall with an equal unfold, ‘Purple Emperor’ has fleshy, succulent foliage.
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It has an upright, but mounded progress behavior that manages to maintain fairly tidy, despite its densely-growing shoots.
In our information to rising stonecrop, we cowl broad cultivation necessities for these crops.
This information concentrates on how one can develop ‘Purple Emperor’ in your panorama.
Right here’s what we’ll be discussing:
A member of the Crassulaceae household of stonecrops, ‘Purple Emperor’ is a hybrid perennial sedum that’s hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9.
Many botanists contemplate it to be a member of the distinct Hylotelephium genus, whereas others nonetheless embody it as a part of the Sedum genus.
You’ll see it listed as sedum at many plant nurseries and backyard facilities.
Come midsummer, the crops bloom with flattened heads of star-shaped, pinkish-red flowers, three to 6 inches throughout.
Persisting till mid-fall, these blooms are particularly enticing to pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Fast Look
Widespread title(s): Purple Emperor sedum, stonecrop
Plant kind: Herbaceous flowering perennial
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 11-12 (outside)
Native to: Cultivated hybrid
Bloom time / season: Spring and summer season
Publicity: Full solar
Soil kind: Free, lean, effectively draining
Soil pH: 6.0-7.0, barely acidic to impartial
Mature measurement: 12-18 inches broad x 12-18 inches excessive
Greatest makes use of: Beds, borders, mass planting, container specimen
Taxonomy
Order: Saxifragales
Household: Crassulaceae
Genus: Hylotelephium (syn. Sedum)
Species: Telephium hybrid
Cultivar: ‘Purple Emperor’
‘Purple Emperor’ was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious Award of Backyard Advantage in 2006.
You possibly can develop ‘Purple Emperor’ in a container, in beds and borders, or with others of its form as a mass planting. The blooms are perfect for minimize or dried flower preparations.
Easy methods to Develop
Full solar is finest for ‘Purple Emperor,’ together with lean, well-draining soil that has a pH of 6.0 to 7.0.
You may get away with planting partly shade in case your area may be very sizzling throughout the summer season months, however on the whole, full solar will guarantee an abundance of flowers.
Very best substances for well-draining and lean soil embody coarse sand and wonderful gravel, and even perlite should you’re going with a soilless medium for rising in a container.
When the plant is established, it doesn’t want a lot in the best way of water. Within the absence of rain, give these drought-tolerant crops a deep drink when the highest two inches of soil feels dry.
There’s no must fertilize, as extremely nutritious soil can result in leggy, weak progress.
The place to Purchase
‘Purple Emperor’ ought to be pretty simple to seek out in your native plant nursery or backyard middle.
‘Purple Emperor’
For those who want to buy on-line, yow will discover crops out there at Nature Hills Nursery.
Upkeep
Eradicating spent blooms might help to tidy up the plant, although leaving them in place can present texture within the fall and winter backyard.
Useless, diseased, or broken leaves and stems ought to be pruned as you discover them to forestall them turning into a drain on the plant.
Propagation
Because it’s a hybrid cultivar, should you acquire seeds, there’s no assure that they’ll develop true to the dad or mum.
You possibly can propagate by way of stem cuttings or buy transplants from the nursery.
From Cuttings
You possibly can take stem cuttings in spring or summer season. Right here’s how:
- Select a wholesome stem and minimize a four- to five-inch size.
- Strip the decrease leaves, so simply two to 3 stay on the prime of the chopping.
- Set the stem in a dry location for 2 to 3 days so the minimize finish can callus over.
- Put together pots stuffed with well-draining soil.
- Plant the chopping about two to 3 inches deep and set it on a sunny windowsill.
- Keep even moisture however don’t permit the potting medium to turn into waterlogged.
After two to 3 weeks, the chopping ought to have developed roots and it may be transplanted into the backyard or right into a everlasting container.
Transplanting
Ensure you transplant when all danger of frost has handed. It’s finest to set crops out in spring in order that they have loads of time to turn into established earlier than winter rolls round.
Put together holes on your transplants which might be deep and broad sufficient to suit the roots.
Take away the plant from its rising container fastidiously so that you don’t harm the roots.
Set the foundation ball within the gap and backfill with soil. Water within the transplants.
Pests and Illness
With its robust, succulent leaves, this selection is proof against each deer and rabbits.
Scale, mealybugs, and black vine weevils are critters which will trigger issues, although.
Scale and mealybugs will each suck sap from leaves and stems whereas additionally excreting honeydew, which may weaken particular person leaves and the plant as an entire.
To manage these pests, you’ll be able to blast them off of plant surfaces with sturdy sprays of water.
Alternatively, you should utilize rubbing alcohol to kill them – to take action, dab them with a cotton swab that’s soaked with a 70 p.c answer of rubbing alcohol and water.
Black vine weevils are two pests in a single, actually. The immature grubs munch on the roots, whereas the grownup beetles will eat the leaf margins at night time.
To manage the larvae, you’ll be able to apply species of helpful nematodes like Steinernema kraussei and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora to the soil.
To fight the leaf munching from the adults, you should utilize pyrethrin sprays on the foliage whereas the adults are feeding in late spring to early summer season.
Don’t neglect about slugs and snails, both. These pests will chew irregularly-shaped holes in foliage and sever stems.
Root and stem rot will be brought on by water-loving pathogens, however they will additionally happen because of waterlogged soil.
Stricken tissues will flip black or brown and collapse. The very best prevention for rot is to develop your crops in well-draining soil and keep away from overwatering.
Powdery mildew will coat contaminated leaves with powdery white mycelium and spores, which may weaken crops in addition to intrude with photosynthesis.
Leaf spot will be brought on by numerous genera of fungi like Cercospora, Colletotrichum, or Septoria.
The spots finally grow to be necrotic patches. Deal with leaf spot with a fungicide like copper.
Empurple Your Backyard
Enjoyable truth: empurple means to “make purple.” Which you are able to do to your panorama with ‘Purple Emperor!’ How ’bout that?
With what you’ve discovered, you’ll be able to add some violet to your backyard alongside the inexperienced.
Add some orange by way of pumpkins or nasturtiums on prime of that, and also you’ve obtained a pleasant backyard of secondary colours.
Nonetheless have questions? Have some superior photos of your individual ‘Purple Emperor’ crops to point out off? Go to the feedback part beneath.
And to be taught extra about rising stonecrop crops, have a learn of those guides subsequent: