Gardening Guides
Central Plains Gardening
Great Design Plant: Hens-and-Chicks
Plant Sempervivum succulents for fuss-free garden color and character all year
Low-water landscapes filled with colorful succulents continue to surge in popularity as architects and nurseries discover extraordinary species and hybrids. Topping the list as one of the most popular are "hens-and-chicks," a common name given to two species that look similar but are suited to very different climates.
This story focuses on the cold-hardy Sempervivum spp. Native to the mountains of Central and Southern Europe, these tough plants thrive in snowy winters and temperate summers. If the desert landscape of the Kaufmann House is your aesthetic ideal but your climate is more like that of Pennsylvania's Fallingwater, then literally thousands of Sempervivum spp. are good choices for you.
This story focuses on the cold-hardy Sempervivum spp. Native to the mountains of Central and Southern Europe, these tough plants thrive in snowy winters and temperate summers. If the desert landscape of the Kaufmann House is your aesthetic ideal but your climate is more like that of Pennsylvania's Fallingwater, then literally thousands of Sempervivum spp. are good choices for you.
Distinguishing traits. With roughly 50 species of Sempervivum currently identified, their ability to cross easily means that there are thousands of hybrids and cultivars to choose from. Their shapes and sizes range from the dense rosettes of Sempervivum tectorum to long fleshy leaves of Sempervivum 'Rubikon'.
Colors include bold chartreuse to bluish gray, deep magenta and frosty mauve. Some varieties of Sempervivum are covered with fibrous webs.
Colors include bold chartreuse to bluish gray, deep magenta and frosty mauve. Some varieties of Sempervivum are covered with fibrous webs.
Each rosette flowers once before the plant dies. Luckily, Sempervivum also reproduces extremely efficiently. Through the production of offsets, the original plant produces more tiny rosettes that will eventually live independently of the original plant. These offsets enable the plant to live indefinitely — hence the name Sempervivum.
Witness the mother hens-and-chick offsets in action.
How to use it. Plant Sempervivum in rock gardens and planters, and in gaps between rocks, boulders or on garden walls. In their native regions, Sempervivum are traditionally grown on roofs.
Sempervivum do great indoors or out, so for those of you with rainy winters, consider taking your Sempervivum indoors for the season. Place on a nice bright window sill or empty shelf for beautiful winter decoration.
Keep it growing. As with most succulents, Sempervivum prefers gritty and well-drained soil and cannot tolerate overwatering.
Remove spent rosettes after flowering, and you can expect a long and maintenance-free planting.
More great design plants:
Snake Flower
Toyon
Black Mondo Grass
Feather Reed Grass
New Zealand Wind Grass
Red Kangaroo Paw
Blue Chalk Sticks
Catmint
Slipper Plant
Great design trees:
Manzanita | Japanese Maple | Persian Ironwood | Smoke Tree | Bald Cypress | Tree Aloe
Remove spent rosettes after flowering, and you can expect a long and maintenance-free planting.
More great design plants:
Snake Flower
Toyon
Black Mondo Grass
Feather Reed Grass
New Zealand Wind Grass
Red Kangaroo Paw
Blue Chalk Sticks
Catmint
Slipper Plant
Great design trees:
Manzanita | Japanese Maple | Persian Ironwood | Smoke Tree | Bald Cypress | Tree Aloe
Common names: Hens-and-chicks, houseleeks
USDA zones: Typically 4-9 (hardiness varies between species)
Water requirement: Little to moderate
Sun requirement: Full sun
Mature size: Mature rosettes vary from ½" to 6" in diameter
Tolerances: Frost resistant, drought
Benefits: Crushed leaves used medicinally to treat burns, warts and other skin irritations