A pictures worth a thousand words… try a search engine.
well, I did that flee, seems there are an awful lot of plants called sedum. None seemed to match the description in the article, and none matched what Ive called sedum all my life
If you have a wife that is into gardening, get her some. Every flower gardner loves them. I would suggest “Autumn Joy”, it is the most popular and has the best flowers for us to use. And you’ll score points with the wife.
“well, I did that flee, seems there are an awful lot of plants called sedum.” That’s true, it’s a generic term for a type of plants. That’s why I suggested a search engine. Are the people in MR reading these postings? Your authors need to be a little more specific when they tell people to use an item. It’s kind of like glue, dogs, chickens, truck, locomotives, and cattle. There’s more than one kind.
think ill stick to making mine from wire and wood putty and whatever that moss is called I get from the crafts store [B)]
I,ve been studing the pictures of the plant in the MR article, and it sure looks a lot like Yarrow (botanical name ‘achillea’). Do a google search for sedum and also for yarrow or achillea and tell me what you think. I have yarrow growing in my garden (Louisiana) and it’s an exact match for the photos in the article. My grandfather obtained the original plants years ago from North Carolina.
Indeed Autumn Joy is the plant most used however you could use anything that will work from the garden. I have a half dozen autumn joys in my yard and while walking about the hood I see them all over. Most people clean up the dead stalks in the fall and heave them into the compost or haul them to the yard waste site.
When we’re talking about Sedum, we’re talking about plants that grow a couple of feet high. We’re not talking about ground covers or such, they have no plant stalks that work for us. A generic term used at times is Everlasting. And Yarrow works also.
There are a lot of gardeners at my workplace, and I’ve put out the word I would like to have the dried Sedum flowers when they cut them off. Use anyone you can as a source for many model railroad needs.
I’m not sure about a sedum plant, but I know that Goldenrod makes great trees.
Sometime around Aug/Sept you see them in fields, yellow in color about waist high.
I usually wait untill they turn brown Oct/Nov cut them below flower, spray with Dark
green or flat black paint and while the paint is still wet I sprinkle them with fine med
green ground foam or turf. when dry spray with hairspray. They look great in clumps
or mixed with other trees on your layout.
HOW fragile are these…I mean working on the layout and one bump and…?
Sedum plants are O.K. for scenery if you want quick, cheap trees. Cover them with green ground foam using white glue for a binder. However, sedum trees will, in time dry out and become brittle. You will have to be carefull that you or your guests don’t accidentetly bump into them because that can create a little mess. Using sedum exclusively on your layout will eventually give the sceney a “look alike appearance” and you should add a mixture of trees into the scene, just like mother nature does. Check with your local florist or see if you have a local "Hobby Lobby " store in your area. They would have a lot of dried floral elements for you to choose from. Also check out some books at your public library about trees. After you see photos of these trees, let your imagination and creative skills go to work for you in tree construction.
Good luck on your new found tree projects.
Don Wick
West Bend, WI
dwick@execpc.com
The NMRA convention notes for Richard McQuade’s clinic say “Sedum Spectabile aka Ruby Glow or Rosy Glow”.
Richard recommended leaving the plant out all winter to dry and harvesting in the early spring.
His trees look really spectacular when seen close up.
Anyone tried boiling the dried Sedum in a glycerol solution? That should give it some added flexibility, and increase the “life” of the trees on the layout. Same goes for Yarrow, which I find is best harvested after the winter has had a go at knocking off the florrets.
I don’t know about sedum, yarrow, or goldenrod, but in the south we have a decorative shrub called Nandina (Heavenly bamboo) that has berry stalks that make perfect tree forms. The berries are ready to drop in very early spring and can be popped off easily. Spray with adhesive or white glue and add foam or flocking. Set with hairspray and you have very attractive and sturdy trees.
Larry