We all know the type, a scene-stealer who shows off in front of others by puffing their chests out and making others look lowly. You will find these characters in all walks of life, even plant life. Sedum 'Herbstfreude', also known as Sedum 'Autumn Joy', is one of those show-offs. It causes many earlier flowering plants to shrink back, outshone by autumn colour they can never hope to match. This show-off is a clump forming herbaceous perennial growing up to 2ft (0.6 metre) tall with a similar width.

Its fleshy and succulent leaves, a bluish-green in colour, are a refreshing change from the normal plain green leaves that clothe the majority of today's garden plants. Children and adults alike are often fascinated by the way in which the plant?s fleshy leaves remain cold to the touch, even on the most sweltering of summer days. This is because Sedum 'Herbstfreude' is a form of succulent, which means their leaves and stems store great quantities of water, the main reason for their cold flesh. Sedum 'Herbstfreude' really begins to show off when you study its large heads of salmon-pink flowers that appear each autumn. Eventually fading to a copper colour and then turning red, these dense flat-topped flower heads, up to six inches (15cm) in diameter are displayed from late September to late October. The clusters of flower buds, pre-blooming, look for the entire world like heads of broccoli. The flowers are followed in November by equally showy clusters of brownish-maroon ripening seeds. These mature seed heads look great in dried floral arrangements or left on the plant. Leave the seed heads on the plant to enjoy the striking winter effect of the flat caps enhanced by a covering of snow or frost.

With winter flowers very rare, we must try to gain our garden visual stimuli from elements other than flowers. So take my advice, don't even attempt to cut your sedum back until the spring to get the most interest from this plant.

An autumn flowering sedum is one of the key plants to include in your garden, if you wish to attract those brightly painted visitors known as butterflies. You should try to plan your butterfly garden so there are blooms all season long. The rhododendrons and lilacs will provide a spring feed for butterflies, followed by summer-blooming plants, such as buddleia.

Then, in the autumn, along come your sedum flowers with their honey-like smell similar to those of the Buddleia. The butterflies will surely appreciate this valuable late source of nectar, seeing them right through to the winter. Within my own garden, I have a cluster of three sedum 'Herbstfreude'. So far, these have been extremely effective in attracting a vast range of butterflies.

Why not try this plant yourself. Sedum is easy to grow, even in poor, sandy soil. It does best in well-drained soils in full sun, but will also tolerate a light shade.

So until next week happy gardening and remember that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.

As well as his horticultural writing, James Kilkelly provides a garden and landscape design service based in County Galway. Contact him through his website www.gardenplansireland.com or alternatively by phone at 087-2067846.

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