Cultivars to Choose
You’ll discover loads of sorts of Sempervivum to suit your model and style, so long as your model and style favors rosettes with thick leaves coated with tiny white hairs.
Meaning all of them look kind of the identical with just a few variations between from one to the subsequent. That’s additionally known as a nasty joke.
We’ll take a gander at among the extra acquainted varieties, and I’ll preserve (most of) the inane commentary to myself.
For much more whimsical and intriguing ideas, learn our roundup of the perfect sorts of hens and chicks.
Cobweb
S. arachnoideum, generally known as cobweb or spiderweb hens and chicks, is exclusive for its wonderful, silvery-white hairs that cowl the leaves, making a web-like look.
These webs assist to guard the plant from extreme daylight, lure moisture to cut back water loss, and supply pure insulation.
The plant kinds tight evergreen rosettes of pointed leaves with inexperienced or reddish coloration, rising as much as three inches tall and 12 inches large.
Cobweb Hens and Chicks
In late summer season, this species produces flower stalks bearing star-shaped blooms in pink, purple, or yellow.
You could find cobweb hens and chicks out there at Planet Desert in two- and four-inch pots.
Mrs. Giuseppi
‘Mrs. Giuseppi’ kinds compact rosettes as much as 4 inches large with fleshy, pointed leaves.
The foliage shows placing inexperienced coloring with contrasting darkish purple ideas, shifting by way of the seasons from inexperienced to wealthy burgundy-red tones.
This selection produces quite a few offsets on very quick stolons, shortly spreading to type enticing floor cowl.
‘Mrs. Giuseppi’
In summer season, the plant sends up flower stalks eight to 10 inches excessive, with clusters of star-shaped, pinkish-purple flowers.
This hybrid was bred by British horticulturist Giuseppe Giuseppi within the early twentieth century.
You could find ‘Mrs. Giuseppi’ in two- and four-inch pots out there at Planet Desert.
Ruby Coronary heart
‘Ruby Coronary heart’ kinds compact, heart-shaped rosettes of thick, sharply pointed leaves with serrated edges.
The leaves are deep silvery blue-green, growing placing ruby-red tones on their ideas and edges throughout cool winter temperatures.
‘Ruby Coronary heart’
This cultivar grows as much as eight inches tall and 18 inches large.
It produces pinkish-purple blooms throughout late spring by way of summer season.
You could find ‘Ruby Coronary heart’ in four-inch pots out there from Planet Desert.
Royanum
In pleasing shades of inexperienced with purple-tipped rosettes measuring about 5 inches in diameter, ‘Royanum’ is a standard discover within the backyard middle as a result of it’s bought that iconic hens and chicks look.
Simply as straightforward to develop as different varieties, the two-tone leaves right here make it a straightforward match amongst vegetation of a wide range of different colours.
Upkeep
You don’t want to fret about upkeep right here. Caring in your hens and chicks in the long run is about as straightforward because it will get.
You may weed across the rosettes when you’ve bought an obnoxious or aggressive weed creeping in, however you may as well depart these couple of sprigs of grass and purslane which might be rising within the space in the event that they don’t trouble you.
Belief me, they aren’t bothering the plant.
A Be aware on Flowering
As monocarpic succulents, hens and chicks can produce a stunning flower, however that is additionally a sign that your plant is ending its life cycle and about to die.
It’s okay, as a result of the flower produces seeds, and it has absolutely produced loads of chicks in its lifetime to hold on the cycle.
Benefit from the flower as a last present of gratitude out of your hen and prepare for a brand new rosette to take its place within the backyard.
You may select whether or not to take away the fading rosette or just depart it in place.
You may learn extra about flowering in Sempervivum vegetation right here.
Propagation
Though it’s potential to develop hens and chicks from seed, it’s extremely impractical in comparison with merely accumulating just a few chicks from a producing hen to propagate.
From Offsets
You’ve bought just a few choices right here:
Let your mom “hen” Sempervivum produce tiny infants by itself, and let these infants unfold round your backyard as they like.
Separated from the mom, they may naturally root in cracks in or areas between stones, however the chicks are simply as completely satisfied to develop anyplace you’ve bought area for them.
Your different choice is to snip just a few “chicks” free once they’ve shaped roots and place them exactly the place you need extra to develop.
The most secure approach to make sure each chick and hen survive is to attend for the runner, or stolon, that attaches them to dry fully and turn into brittle to the contact earlier than separating the 2.
Every runner will produce some tiny leaves that it holds onto whereas the hen continues to be supporting the chick. Wait to maneuver the chicks till the leaves die and the runner grows dry, skinny, and brittle.
It doesn’t get a lot simpler than that!
Transplanting
You’ll discover loads of Sempervivum choices out of your native nursery, most of them offered in acquainted one-gallon plastic pots. Once you take these vegetation out of their pots, don’t be alarmed when a lot of the soil crumbles!
Hens and chicks don’t have very vigorous root programs.
Dig a shallow gap utilizing your most popular digging device and nestle the plant inside.
Evenly backfill the opening and provides it a very good drink of water. Voila, instantaneous gratification.
Pests and Illness
You may be delighted to find your hens and chicks don’t actually face any widespread pest or illness points, except they’re experiencing circumstances radically completely different from what they need.
As such, Sempervivum could be very proof against insect issues, although within the mistaken circumstances it’d develop confused and turn into host to a swarm.
I’ve by no means skilled an aphid or mealybug infestation on hens and chicks rising within the backyard, however it’s occurred with each plant I’ve tried rising indoors.