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Piney Woods

Willamette Valley oak savanna

Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Puget lowland forests

Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

24"

Habit

Upright, bushy, square-stemmed tender perennial subshrub that spreads by tuberous roots

Care tips

•

Give it full sun to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil; it is drought and heat tolerant once established (NC State Extension), but in too much shade the stems elongate and fall over (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

•

Treat it as a tender perennial hardy only to about zone 8a: north of that, grow it as an annual, or pot up plants in fall or take late-summer cuttings to overwinter indoors (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). The 'Black and Blue' cultivar is hardier and will survive milder zone 7 winters if well mulched (NC State Extension).

•

Expect deep blue, two-lipped flower spikes that hummingbirds visit from July into fall; deadhead spent flowers for more bloom, and cut the stems back in late spring if you want a shorter plant (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Lifecycle

Planting

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder rates it winter hardy in USDA zones 8 to 10 and advises growing it as an annual north of zone 8: plant it in average, evenly moist, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade, and set plants out after the last frost date. NC State Extension notes it prefers humus-rich soil, is drought and heat tolerant once established, and that the 'Black and Blue' cultivar is hardier than other cultivars and will survive milder winters in zone 7 if well mulched.

Transplanting

Propagate by division or stem cuttings (NC State Extension). Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes that the species can be grown from seed started indoors before the last spring frost date, but that cultivars should be propagated from cuttings. Where it is not reliably winter hardy, pot up a few plants in fall or take cuttings in late summer to overwinter in a bright, cool window (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), then set new plants out after the last frost, spacing them at least 24 inches apart.

Early growth

Keep the soil evenly moist but well drained (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). In too much shade the stems tend to elongate and fall over, so give it full sun to part shade, and cut the stems back in late spring if you want a shorter plant (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Maturity

A mature plant is an upright, bushy, square-stemmed patch 2 to 5 feet tall and wide (NC State Extension; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), spreading via tuberous roots (NC State Extension). It flowers in spikes to 10 inches long from July to October, and deadheading spent flowers encourages additional bloom (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). Hummingbirds feed on the nectar, and carpenter bees rob it by biting a hole in the floral tube (NC State Extension).

Propagation

Spreads on its own by tuberous roots that let it reproduce vegetatively (NC State Extension). Propagate it deliberately by division or stem cuttings (NC State Extension); the species can also be started from seed indoors, but grow cultivars from cuttings (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Plant this, not that

Better fit for this place

For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Garden mum

The classic fall-flowering "garden mum" - a compact, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the daisy family, grown for a prolific late-season flush of showy flowers from September to frost in shades of white, yellow, orange, bronze, purple, and red. A complex hybrid of five Chinese species, not native to North America; widely sold as a one-season annual but hardy in the ground roughly zones 5-9. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a welcome late-season nectar source when little else is blooming.

The classic white-and-yellow garden daisy - a clump-forming herbaceous perennial bearing showy single flower heads of white ray florets around a yellow central disc from midsummer into fall. A garden hybrid bred by Luther Burbank in the 1890s near snow-covered Mt. Shasta in northern California, it grows 2 to 3 feet tall and is a mainstay of the perennial border, cottage garden, and cutting garden. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies, and is resistant to deer and rabbit browsing.

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Leucanthemum × superbum

Shasta daisy

The classic clove-scented carnation, a short-lived evergreen perennial in the pink family grown for centuries for its frilled, spice-fragrant double flowers and tidy mounds of narrow blue-gray foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, it thrives in full sun and lean, sharply drained, neutral-to-alkaline soil with steady but never soggy moisture, and is hardy in USDA zones 6a-9b. It is the florist's carnation and the parent of countless border and perpetual-flowering strains, prized as much for cutting as for the garden.

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation

A bold, clump-forming evergreen perennial from South Africa, grown for big rounded umbels of trumpet-shaped blue (or white) flowers held on tall bare stalks above arching, strap-shaped leaves in mid-to-late summer. It is widely sold as "lily of the Nile," but that is a misnomer - the plant is South African (the Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal), not from the Nile. Spectacular and easy in warm climates, this evergreen Agapanthus is frost-tender, so in cold-winter areas it is grown in a container and overwintered under cover. The RHS has given several Agapanthus praecox forms its Award of Garden Merit and rates this evergreen species half-hardy (H3 - needs winter protection).

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

Agapanthus praecox

African lily

Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

The classic clove-scented carnation, a short-lived evergreen perennial in the pink family grown for centuries for its frilled, spice-fragrant double flowers and tidy mounds of narrow blue-gray foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, it thrives in full sun and lean, sharply drained, neutral-to-alkaline soil with steady but never soggy moisture, and is hardy in USDA zones 6a-9b. It is the florist's carnation and the parent of countless border and perpetual-flowering strains, prized as much for cutting as for the garden.

Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation

A tuberous-rooted member of the aster family native to Mexico and Central America, grown for showy summer-to-fall blooms in nearly every color except blue. Hybrids in commerce span ten flower-form groups (single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous) and range from 1 to 6 feet tall. Winter-hardy only to USDA Zones 7-10; in colder regions the tubers are lifted in fall and stored frost-free, so most North American gardeners grow it as a summer annual.

Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Garden mum

The classic fall-flowering "garden mum" - a compact, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the daisy family, grown for a prolific late-season flush of showy flowers from September to frost in shades of white, yellow, orange, bronze, purple, and red. A complex hybrid of five Chinese species, not native to North America; widely sold as a one-season annual but hardy in the ground roughly zones 5-9. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a welcome late-season nectar source when little else is blooming.

Heliotrope, also called cherry pie, garden heliotrope, or Peruvian heliotrope, is a tender evergreen shrub in the borage family (Boraginaceae) native to Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. It is grown for its dense, rounded clusters of tiny violet-purple flowers, which carry a strong vanilla-like scent that Plants For A Future likens to cherries baked in a pie, hence the name cherry pie. The rough, dark green leaves are deeply veined. In its native range it can reach 2 to 6 feet, but it is frost-tender and reliably hardy only in USDA zones 10a-11b, so almost everywhere else it is grown as a summer bedding annual or container plant that stays around 12 to 30 inches. Be aware that it is poisonous: like many borage-family plants it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, NC State lists every part of the plant as poisonous to people, with digestive upset and liver damage as the symptoms, and it can cause liver failure in horses. It is not the same plant as valerian, which is also called 'garden heliotrope'.

Heliotropium arborescens

Heliotrope