Sedum dasyphyllum 'Corsican Stonecrop'

Don't let the delicate appearance fool you. Sedum dasyphyllum 'Corsican Stonecrop' looks like it belongs in a fairy garden — tiny hairy blue-gray leaves packed into a soft cushion barely an inch or two tall, with small white flowers tinged pink hovering above — but it's considerably tougher than it looks. The name dasyphyllum means "hairy-leaved," and those fine, glandular hairs give the plant a slightly sticky, velvety texture that's unlike most other sedums. It feels as interesting as it looks.

Hardy to Zone 5 and perfectly suited to the Pacific Northwest's well-drained rock garden conditions, it grows 1 to 2 inches tall and spreads 6 to 8 inches wide — small enough for a trough or a narrow wall crevice, soft enough to look completely natural in a larger rock garden. It prefers full sun and dryish, well-drained soil, and handles our summer drought without complaint. The flowers appear from late spring through summer and are small and fine in proportion to the rest of the plant. This is a great choice for anyone who wants the rock garden to look like something you'd stumble across on a windswept coastal headland — tuck it into crevices, let it fill a small pocket between stones, or use it in a hypertufa trough alongside other small wonders. It earns its space every single season.