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 December
1997
 Sempervivum
species
 November
1997
Allium
thunbergii
October
1997
Gentiana
scabra
September
1997
Sedum
cauticola
August
1997
Allium
senescens glaucum
July
1997
Delphinium
tatsienense
June
1997
Dianthus
gratianopolitanus
May
1997
Penstemon
rupicola
April
1997
Tulipa
tarda
March
1997
Iris
reticulata
February
1997
Saxifraga
longifolia
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1999
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Plant
of the Month
December
1997
Sempervivum
by Iza Goroff
Sempervivums,
popularly known as hens and chicks, are the Rodney
Dangerfields of the alpine plant world; they "don't get no
respect". They are deserving of great respect. Despite their
ease of culture, they can produce Persian carpets of color
or mats of fascinating rosettes.
Sempervivums
are native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. Almost
all of the cultivars available are completely hardy in the
48 USA states and much of Canada.
The
individual rosette can range in size from 1/4" (6 mm) or
less to 6" (15 cm) or more. Their colors can range from blue
through violet through red through yellow. Many are
bicolored. Sempervivum
arachnoideum and others can
have fantastic webs of silver hairs. Stems of flowers appear
on old rosettes. Flowers range from yellow to rose to red.
The flowers are not an important feature of the plants;
rosettes which flower die in a few weeks and should be
removed so that new rosettes can fill the dead ones'
places.
Sempervivums
require little in the way of special care. All that is
required is some sun and good drainage. A rosette can be
plucked from an existing mat and placed on soil where it
will root with no extra effort. One may plant a rosette on a
depression in a rock with a little clay soil (less likely to
erode) and eventually get a carpet covering the
rock.
There
are hundreds of named clones of sempervivums. One can
usually beg some from friends, get them from
North
American
Rock
Garden
Society
chapter plant sales, or buy assortments from nurseries
specializing in them.
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