Popstar is a compact stonecrop with blue-green leaves on gray-purple stems, forming a dense, full dome about a foot tall. In late summer, creamy gray buds cover the mound and pop open into cheerful salmon-pink flowers.
After bloom, darker pink seed pods keep the color going into fall. It is low maintenance and fits the front of a sunny border, a rock garden or a container. Very drought tolerant; rabbits avoid it.
What it looks like
Small, fleshy, rounded leaves about 1 inch long in powdery blue-green, set closely on gray-purple stems. In late summer, clusters of creamy gray buds completely cover the plant and open into small star-shaped flowers in salmon pink, followed by darker pink seed pods. The plant is a dense, full, dome-shaped mound 10 to 12 inches tall and 16 to 20 inches wide. At peak it looks like a blue-green dome blanketed in salmon pink.
Growing it with lavender
This compact sedum thrives in the same hot, sunny, well-drained ground as lavender, and its rounded succulent mounds make a neat, contrasting edge along the front of a lavender bed.
Care
Plant in full sun in average to poor, well-drained soil; it is very drought tolerant once established and rots in soggy ground. Hardy in zones 3-9; trim back old stems in early spring before new growth starts, and divide every few years if the center opens up.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hylotelephium
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Flower color: Salmon pink
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Foliage: Blue-green on gray-purple stems
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Growth habit: Dense, dome-shaped mound
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Mature size: 10–12 in tall × 16–20 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun
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Bloom start: Late-August
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Peak bloom: Mid-September
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
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Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
