'Dazzleberry' is a compact herbaceous perennial sedum in the SunSparkler series bred by Chris Hansen of Great Garden Plants in the United States. Though sold under the trade name Sedum 'Dazzleberry', the cultivar is a hybrid of species now formally placed in Hylotelephium, so the correct binomial is Hylotelephium 'Dazzleberry'. Most garden-centre labelling uses the simpler Sedum form.
The parent species include Hylotelephium cauticola (now often treated as Sedum cauticola in horticulture) and taller H. telephium relatives, bred together to produce a front-of-border hybrid that flowers later and holds its form without flopping.
Part of the Complete Sedum Guide.
Identification
A compact semi-herbaceous perennial, 15 to 20 cm tall and 30 to 45 cm wide at maturity, forming a low mounding clump rather than an upright stand.
- Leaves. Obovate, 2 to 3 cm long, thickly fleshy, with a smoky blue-grey to purple flush that intensifies through the season. The dark foliage is a significant ornamental feature on its own, independent of the flowers.
- Stems. Short, sturdy, radiating from a central crown in a low dome. Unlike the tall 'Autumn Joy' types, 'Dazzleberry' does not produce upright stems that need staking.
- Inflorescence. Large flat-topped cymes 10 to 12 cm across of bright raspberry-red to magenta-pink five-petalled flowers, opening in late August and persisting through September into October. The flower colour is unusually saturated for the group.
Tell 'Dazzleberry' from its sibling cultivars in the SunSparkler series by flower colour: 'Dazzleberry' is the deep raspberry selection; 'Firecracker' has coral-pink flowers; 'Lime Zinger' has chartreuse foliage and pink flowers.
Cultivation
Grow as for the rest of the upright Hylotelephium group: full sun, sharp drainage, lean soil, no supplemental feeding. Cold-hardy to USDA zone 4. Dies back to ground level each winter and re-emerges from crown buds in spring.
The divergence from the generic Hylotelephium pillar advice: 'Dazzleberry' is bred specifically to stay compact and not flop. The Chelsea-chop maintenance required for taller 'Autumn Joy' types is not needed for this cultivar. Plant in the front of a border, at 30 cm spacing, and let it develop naturally.
The smoky-purple foliage colour develops most strongly in full sun. In part shade the leaves stay greyer and the flower colour is less saturated. For the named effect give it at least six hours of direct sun daily.
No fertiliser. Rich soil produces lax growth and reduces foliage pigmentation.
Propagation
Stem cuttings are the standard method. Take a 10 cm non-flowering shoot in late spring or early summer, strip the lower leaves, push the bare stem into gritty substrate. Roots within two weeks.
Division is possible but less efficient than for the larger 'Autumn Joy' types because the clump stays compact. Divide only when the centre shows signs of dying out after four to five years; lift in early spring, split the crown, replant the outer vigorous portions.
'Dazzleberry' is patent-protected under US Plant Patent law. Home propagation for personal use is unrestricted; commercial propagation requires a licence from the breeder.
Notes
The SunSparkler series is the single most successful modern breeding programme in sedum. It has put compact, non-flopping, dark-leaved, late-flowering cultivars in the front of herbaceous borders where the genus was previously under-represented. 'Dazzleberry' is the flagship release, introduced in 2011, and it remains a benchmark for the type.
In a mixed planting the cultivar combines particularly well with ornamental grasses (Pennisetum orientale, small Miscanthus), late-flowering Aster and Symphyotrichum, and other dark-leaved late-season perennials. The raspberry flowers read strongly against the smoky foliage at closer distance and against buff grass seed heads at longer distance.
Late-season pollinator value is significant. Flowering from August into October covers the autumn gap when many other nectar sources have finished, and the flat-topped heads are accessible to bumblebees, honey bees, hoverflies, and butterflies alike.
Deer and rabbit resistant. Do not over-water; the compact root system is more susceptible to crown rot than the vigorous 'Autumn Joy' types.
See also: Sedum Autumn Fire, Sedum Lime Zinger, SunSparkler Sedum.