You may be familiar with the stonecrops that many plant in their gardens. These are not the sedum ground-covers, but the large, mounding thick-leaved plants with flowers that bloom in fall. This particular species is the only one native in North America (the ones typically sold in stores are introduced).

Find it in the wild

This species is most often found growing in the Appalachian mountains. Although its presence is not historically recorded in southeastern PA, if you connect the dots with its presence in NJ, it’s possible they were here. There just aren’t historical herbarium records to support this. Maybe early settlers wiped them out or the deer and rabbits kept them browsed beyond recognition. I’ve seen them do this to the non-native stonecrops. In fact, I didn’t even know I had any until a section they’d been planted was blocked off from deer. It’s amazing that something with an insubstantial root system can survive years of browsing. Maybe that’s how it got its name “live-forever,” because they really do. Therefore, I am leaving this in the eastern PA native category, just with an asterisk.

This perennial plant is found growing mostly in the high-elevation areas of the Appalachian mountain range from North Carolina to Pennsylvania on rocky outcroppings, slopes, woodlands, and along roadsides. (Source: NCSU)

Note on the part regarding higher elevations. Multiple other sources point out that this is the case at the southern end of the range, where maybe hot is a little too hot. For more ideas of how this grows in wild habitat, check out this source.

Plant it in your garden

This would make a great addition to a rock garden. Although rock gardens typically focus on smaller species, pepper this throughout for a bit of variation. You can also try it in a dry garden. They can handle moisture as long as the soil drains well. You can see how shallow their roots are in the second photo. They can be grown in containers, but you’d want a wide, squat pot, preferably one made from a heavier material such as hypertufa or clay. Since they can reach up to 3ft tall at maturity, they can become quite top heavy. The size of the pot has more to do with keeping the pots from falling over and supporting the plant.

Some sites report that Allegheny stonecrop prefers full sun, though it can grow in part sun to light shade. My guess is that the larger size is associated with full sun sites. The earlier link I shared mentioned they grow only 12-15 inches tall, which could be due to lower light or poor soil. Normally the leaves are glaucous, with a blue-green tint, but can take on a reddish hue in more sun. I will be planting some in various parts of the garden to see how they do. They are known to grow in the Appalachian mountains, and I’ve seen photos of them growing in moss at the base of trees.

My experience

So far, growing the Allegheny stonecrop shows that it’s a very easy-going plant, and very quick to grow from seed. They’re also very easy to keep happy. The seed germinated quite readily, and I grew far more plants than I expected. They also transplant easily due to the shallow roots. They can be propagated from stem cuttings once you have a colony going, as they appear to have adventitious roots. The only issue I think would be making sure they have well drained soil. That being said, even with all the rains we’d had, it didn’t seem to bother them one bit. It just helped them grow faster.

Tested: if you break a leaf off by accident at the stem, stick it in soil. It will root similarly to other sedums! You can quickly expand the number of plants in your garden in this manner, or share them with friends. Get at least two seed grown (read: genetically different) plants for seed.