This sedum has a funny story behind it. I went compost shopping in Home Depot and almost stepped on a pretty, broken off branch of a plant. It was laying in the aisle and only about three inches long. Fearing that the cashier would reprimand me for stealing plants, I got her permission to take it home. I stuck it in the soil between some rocks in the front walkway not expecting anything to come of it. Two years later, this plant is the brightest spot in the front of the house. It’s bright yellow in the summer and turns to an orange-red in the fall – so noticeable that neighbours have been asking me about transplanting shoots to their gardens. Of course, I am happy to oblige.

Sedums, otherwise known as stonecrops, have as many as six hundred species. They range from creeping plants to shrubs and are so varied that the only way to recognize them is by the thick, waxy leaves. They grow mainly in sunny places. I assume that the thick leaves are almost like cacti and act as water storage. Apparently many are edible and some were used like salad by the Haida nation.