Family: Crassulaceae
Habitat: Graptosedum is a nursery hybrid, so it doesn’t exist in nature.
Cultivation: Graptosedum is very easy to cultivate. Put it in a bright spot to enhance the purple tinges of its leaves, water regularly in summer and scarcely in Winter, keep it at mild temperatures.
Curiosity: It is a hybrid between 2 genera: Graptoveria, from which it took its beautiful colors, and Sedum, from which it took the typical shape of the leaves.

KEY FEATURES

Graptosedum is a nursery hybrid obtained through crossings between different species of Graptoveria and Sedum. Depending on the species involved in the crossbreeding, different cultivars of Graptoveria can be obtained.

Graptoveria has the typical aspect and resistance of many members of the family Crassulaceae: it consists in little bushes made of wooden but often curved and intricated stems which end up in rosettes of gut-shaped, succulent leaves. As the plant grows, the stems will take on a falling attitude, making Graptoveria a perfect plant for pots in balconies.

The leaves assume the typical greyish-green, but with a peculiarity: they slightly change in colour depending on the exposure to sunlight. If the plant is grown in full sun, red – purplish tinges will appear while, instead, when it’s grown in half-shade, the leaves will become more bluish-grey.

Leaves are usually 2 centimeters long, more or less hull-shaped or finger-shaped like Sedums, depending on the species. The older leaves at the base of the stems tend to fall and leave the stem bare. The rosettes are usually abundant and reach a diameter of 10-12 centimeters.

Flowers are often yellow, but the colour can change according to the cultivar. They have 4 petals and are borne at the top of an elongated, wooden stem, 15 centimeters long grouped in pretty clusters with 2 to 6 branches. THe blooming period occurs from late Spring to the beginning of the following Winter.

These plants are appreciated, together with the persistence of their blossoming and their beautiful rosettes, for their remarkable resistance to any adversity: the rosettes are able to survive long droughts and also rather low temperatures.

VARIETY AND TYPES

There are several varieties of Graptosedum, depending on the species of Sedum and Graptoveria involved in the crossbreeding. Here below wee list some of them:

• G. ‘Amicie’
• G. ‘Darley sunshine’
• G. ‘Francesco Baldi’
• G. ‘Francesco Baldi’ f. crested
• G. ‘Vera Higgins’

Check our online shop to find them!

TIPS FOR GROWING

Graptosedum are very easy to cultivate. They resist to any adversities and will reward you with the variations of the tinges of their beautiful foliage and their persistent blossoming. Here below are our cultivation tips:

• Put your Graptosedum in a half-sun position. It tolerates well direct sun, and , when exposed to intense sunlight, its foliage will show its purplish tinges. It adapts well, anyway, to any kinds of exposure, also shade. In the shade, the foliage will turn slightly bluish.
• Avoid freezing temperatures, however Graptosedum are resistent and will survive to short frosts, even below -5ºC. Low temperatures, moreover, are required to obtain helathy blossomings.
• Waterings should be regular and abundant during Spring and Summer. Water any time you notice that the soil is completely dried up (at least once-twice a week depending on the temperature). In Autumn and Winter, instead, waterings should be more and more scarce, until being completely suspended during the coldest months in Winter.
• Fertilize once a year in early Spring, diluted to one quarter of the recommended dose on the label.
• Graptosedums grow fast and you’ll need to put them in a wide pot. However, they will fit well in the same pot for many years, if you forget to repotting them!

Propagation can be easily carried out by taking off one of its numerous offsets produced around the mother plant. Also, leaves cuttings work very well. Any rosette that breaks off has the potential to root and start a new plant. Even a leaf that drops off will root below the parent plant and produce a new rosette quickly.