Re: sedum

**f*@aol.com**

 For the record, the correct cultivar name is 'Matrona'. 'Purple Emperor' is, as someone wrote, more upright. 'Matrona' was a Plant of the Year in Europe a few years ago. I prefer it to 'Purple Emperor'.
Sedum Autumn Joy ('Herbstfreude') and Heuchera 'Palace Purple' are still around because they work. Yes, there certainly are newer and more interesting varieties available of these genera as there are of every other genus, and yes, I too wish people would buy the newer ones because we in the industry make more money on those than on the old ones which have gone over to Commodity status. 
The big box stores' aggressive margin-slicing policies make it mandatory for growers who supply them to favor large quantities of plants that can be grown economically. Non-proprietary, easy-to-propagate items, like the two Duane chose, fit that bill perfectly. And (see above), they work. Gardeners can grow them. Growers can grow them. They succeed.
Bear in mind also that the people on this list are not typical gardeners. We see stuff sometimes years before the general public, so what's old hat among garden writers may still be a hot lick to many homeowners.

-----Original Message-----
From: Duane Campbell <dcamp@chilitech.net>
To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:26 pm
Subject: Re: [GWL] sedum

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Duane Campbell" <dcamp@chilitech.net>
To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers

> Would I be correct to suggest that most everyone here would agree that
> Auturm Joy should have disappeared from the big box parking lots two 
> decades
> ago? Along with Purple Palace heuchera.

Please excuse me for replying to my own post. But I threw that last 
paragraph in as an afterthought, but it is something I have been thinking 
about.

Plants like Autumn Joy and Palace Purple were a breakthrough three decades 
ago, and I truly thank whoever introduced them. But it's like disco. Way out 
of date. There are many more interesting sedums and heucheras, and they are 
no more difficult to propogate. I can't believe that the small plant patent 
fee is so prohibitive. Where big box stores do carry better varieties, they 
are commonly no more expensive than their obsolete offspring.

So please explain -- you PR and breeder and wholesale grower types here --  
why are these now old-fashioned plants so dominating the popular market?

D 

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