SEMPERVIVUM a.k.a. HOUSELEEK
It's many years since I grew succulents and they are such wonderful plants that I have quite missed them. I used to have several in a large, shallow, terracotta dish in the days when I owned a house with a conservatory. I much prefer them to cacti as they don't have sharp spikes and therefore are easier to separate and repot when necessary. I saw this one, below, in the garden centre yesterday among the alpine plants and I just had to have it.
Any one of those smaller side plants could be pulled away and potted on. Years ago villagers would grow houseleeks on their roofs. Imagine that! That's an indication of what they need. Sempervivums ask for little and give plenty, and the name means 'always alive'. It's kindness that kills them off. The ability to survive on a house roof indicates that they need little in which to anchor their roots, can tolerate baking sun and freezing weather, and torrential rain as well as drought, just so long as there is free drainage. What more can you ask from a plant?
I was going to grow this one in my garden border, in an area that has poorer soil and stones, but I think I will grow it in a terracotta pot on its own instead. They do flower from time to time too. Unfortunately, the garden centre failed to provide a label with this plant. It might be a sempervivum calcareum, and most certainly belongs to the Crassulaceae family.
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| Sempervivum (aka Houseleek) |
Any one of those smaller side plants could be pulled away and potted on. Years ago villagers would grow houseleeks on their roofs. Imagine that! That's an indication of what they need. Sempervivums ask for little and give plenty, and the name means 'always alive'. It's kindness that kills them off. The ability to survive on a house roof indicates that they need little in which to anchor their roots, can tolerate baking sun and freezing weather, and torrential rain as well as drought, just so long as there is free drainage. What more can you ask from a plant?
I was going to grow this one in my garden border, in an area that has poorer soil and stones, but I think I will grow it in a terracotta pot on its own instead. They do flower from time to time too. Unfortunately, the garden centre failed to provide a label with this plant. It might be a sempervivum calcareum, and most certainly belongs to the Crassulaceae family.
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I recall also the wonderful 'Money Plant' (crassula ovata) that I grew in a terracotta pot in my conservatory. It grew strongly and into a fantastic miniature tree, rather like a bonsai, and it would produce small white flowers from time to time. I was very sad when I had to abandon it when I went to live abroad but now I don't think I have a sunny enough window bottom for one.