I had great hopes for sedum ‘Touchdown Teak’. At the nursery the plant captivated me with its beautiful, dark-red foliage. Teak is supposed to be able to handle cold, drought, heat, poor soils and even humidity. It sounded like the perfect plant to replace a perennial that didn’t survive winter.
‘Touchdown Teak’ grows in an upright clump that reaches 10-15 inches tall. From late summer into fall the plant is covered in dark-red flowers—or so they say. I was never able to enjoy any flowers because my plant shriveled up and croaked.
I’m not sure what went wrong. While I like to nestle my plants tightly together, Teak was planted with several other new perennials, and it had plenty of light and space in its location in almost-full sun. Nearby, another newly-planted sedum—‘Mr. Goodbud’—is thriving nicely:
One thing ‘Touchdown Teak’ requires is good drainage. We haven’t had any flooding rains, but for awhile we were getting a shower or downpour just about every other day. The soil around Teak drains well, but perhaps the humid conditions were just too much for the plant.
It’s too bad because I really loved how that blackish-red foliage stood out like a beacon among neighboring perennials.
In an area with hot, dry summers Teak might be a champ, but for me it was a dud.