Work that old black magic!

Voodoo stonecrop. An evocative name. Dark, smoky purple leaves calling up images of dark, smoky rooms, redolent with incense and... OK, so I don't know anything about voodoo and it shows. (Do they use incense?) But you have to admit, it was an inspired choice of a name for a purple-leafed creeping sedum and the seeds were even on clearance. Of COURSE I bought them.

The seeds were easy to germinate and might have been easy to grow on if I'd paid them proper attention. I didn't much, to tell the truth. I mean, it's sedum, right? One of the easiest things to grow in the garden, verging on weed status. How hard can it be?

Somewhat harder than I expected. Despite my neglect, I was able to put four little plants into the ground at summer's end, expecting something of an explosion. Any other sedum I've ever grown exploded. These ones didn't.

When the snow melted this spring, I was down to two little plants. Briefly. And then there was one... (Anyone for a rousing chorus of "99 plants of sedum this fall"?)

And that one has soldiered on with all the enthusiasm of a conscript. It has sullenly accepted to expand ever so slightly, but you really do need photo records to be able to make out the growth at all. Do I really need to say that I am disappointed and won't recommend it? Winter hardiness might be an issue here, but I would still expect the lone survivor to have put on a bit more weight since the end of winter. This may be the Great Frozen North, but the last vestiges of winter disappeared a good two months and some ago, so I'm not accepting excuses.

This would be a really great plant for an indoor terrarium or any environment where glacially slow growth is a plus. As for me, I'm not impressed. But being a softie at heart, I'll give it a chance anyway. It's not like it's taking up too much room.