Browsing category: Sempervivums (Hens & Chicks)

From Old Stove Base To Cast Iron Sempervivum Planter

What do you think of my new planter? It is made of cast iron and in its previous life I think it must have been the base of a small wood stove.

Three Sempervivum Hybrids… or Just One?

Four summers ago one of my very ordinary green sempervivums produced some rather extraordinary flowers. This sempervivum was a very small rosette, but the flower clusters were unusually large…

There Was a Package in Our Mailbox Today

There was a package in our mailbox today and it was the best kind of surprise. When I saw the return address, I guessed (hoped) what might be inside… the package was from a long time reader who loves plants, gardening… and especially sempervivums… as much as I do.

Sempervivum Flowers & Growing Sempervivum From Seed

If you’re new to growing sempervivums (commonly called hens and chickens)… the flowers, and especially the flower stalks, can come as somewhat of a shock. If you know what to look for, it is usually obvious when a rosette is about to flower…

Hens & Chickens (Sempervivum tectorum)

I have had sempervivum growing in my gardens for many years, and they are one of my very favorite plants. Often called houseleeks or by the more common name of hens and chickens, these hardy perennials have thick, fleshy leaves and grow in rosettes.

Propagating Jovibarba heuffelii

There are two ways to propagate Jovibarba heuffelii… division and seeds. First, divison…

Sempervivums in Shades of Red

I have taken hundreds and hundreds… maybe even thousands… of pictures of my sempervivums. Some day (hopefully) I will get them all organized according to name. Right now, though, I thought I would share some photographs of my sempervivums in their bright spring colors.

Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum)

These are cobweb houseleeks (sempervivum arachnoideum). The rosettes appear to have small spiderwebs on them, but the “webs” are actually a naturally growing part of these amazing little plants.

Oddity With Tubes or Oddity With Blades?

Recently several readers have written to me because the tubes of their Oddity are no longer tubes, and they suddenly have a sempervivum with broad flat leaves. They are concerned that their Oddity is reverting back to a non-tubular form.

Sempervivum ‘Purdy’s 70-40′

It’s difficult for me to choose one sempervivum as my favorite (except for Oddity, of course… that is always number one) because each one is special in its own way. However, Purdy’s 70-40 has to be near the top of the list.