There are lots of great things about fall: Weeds grow more slowly. You get to wear your brand new sweaters. And sedums come into their full glory.

I have to admit that I’m a sucker for sedums. I have an entire row of Matrona sedums packed into my front-yard garden. For the better part of the gardening season, they look kinda cool — in a structural way — with their big, succulent-looking leaves and broccoli-like flowerheads.But now they’re starting to turn on the charm. Is it because almost everything else is starting to look kind of drab? Or because they’re coming into bloom?

OK, even I admit that blooms on a sedum will never rival those of the dinkiest rose. But they do look neat, especially some of the new varieties like Black Jack (which boasts blackish leaves and pink flowerheads), Pink Chablis (which has variegated leaves and pink and white flowers) and Neon (which has super bright magenta flowers).

If you want to see some of the newer, showier sedums, check out these sites. If you’re not into sedums (which I can hardly believe), then what are some of your fall favorites?

Oh, the puns were a-flyin’ at the SLP Cat Ranch. I planted my new succulant garden on Saturday and the boyfriend and I couldn’t help ourselves. Yesiree, nothing is funnier than a gardener who’s had too much coffee and too much time in the sun.

“Wow. That garden full of suck-ulents totally sucks.”

“I’m super excited. It’s totally gonna suck all summer long.”

“Seriously, I don’t know what sucks more — the sedum or the hens-and-chicks?”

Bad jokes aside, the east side of our yard needs a lot of TLC. Last year, we installed soffits and gutters on the house. They’re great for a rain barrel, but not so great for plants living under the roofline. In a matter of weeks, the swath of grass between the house and the driveway turned brown and bone-dry.

“Hey, Greengirl, your grass is dead,” Brian’s band mates teased, “Why don’t you put that in you blog?” (Note: Two bottles of Grain Belt Premium does not make you a comedian.)

This year, I decide to work with our little micro-climate instead of working against it. I dug up the grass and put some of last week’s impulse buys to good use.

Here’s the before shot complete with crab grass and dandelions:

And here’s the new rock garden. As you can see, I have a surplus of rocks (all dug out of our lawn, BTW) and a little short on succulents. Anyone know how fast they spread?

In other succulent news, Minneapolis city officials are talking about installing a green roof on the Target Center. That’s right, we’re looking at 3.3 acres of green downtown, and not to mention, one of the 10 largest green projects in the world!