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Sempervivum |
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| | 'Royal Ruby' |
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| | 'Royal Ruby' making babies |
| Common name |
hens and chicks; houseleek |
| Family |
crassulaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial |
| Flowers |
purple (summer) |
| Size |
2" (to 6" in bloom) |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
well-drained soil |
Succulent groundcover with summer flowers that rise from odd stalks. Rock garden mainstay. We've had one variety, with tightly cropped reddish small cabbages, for many years - it multiplies, but isn't aggressive. This year, we're trying two new varieties, both larger.
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| | In winter, its foliage takes on a deep burgundy shade |
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| 'Kalinda' in early April
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: rock garden About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Sempervivum
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Nancy Pearson | May 20, 2005 | Why would every greenhouse in Utah not sell Hens and Chicks? I own every kind but I worry . Are they totally safe?
I'm not aware of any problems with them, Nancy |
| LauRA | Jun 05, 2005 | I have a large hens and chickens growing outside. This year, something sprouted out of it that does not look like the rest. I thought at first that it was a wild strawberry plant. But I don't think it is. Currently, it is aboun 2 ft tall, has now 1 yellow daisy-like bloom. the leave are a little hairy both sides and serrated all the way around the slight oval shapped leaves. any info you can give me on what it is is highly appreciated.
No idea, Laura. Sounds like some seed germinated right in the middle - could be rudbeckia, coreopsis, or any of many other daisy-family flowers. The name-that-plant forum at GardenWeb is usually very good at identifying unknown plants. |
| Angela Hasting | Jun 15, 2005 | I live in Oklahoma. Recently my grandmother gave me a starter from her hen&chickens. I took it home and planted it. It started growing straight up from the middle like a stalk. At the top of it lookes like a bunch of flowers or buds of some kind. My grandmother and mother said they had never seen one do this before. Is this normal. Also its starting to lean over what can I do to keep it from dyeing.
Angela, if your stalk looks anything like the one in the photo here, that's normal blooming behavior. They are hardy plants, tough to kill - if they start getting uprooted, just set them back in the soil and they'll be fine. |
| Leigh Ann | Jul 15, 2005 | I live in South Texas and have a lot of white tale deer in my yard. Would I be spending my money on their meals with these sempervivum? It is so hard to find plants that they won't eat.
According to this list of deer-resistant plants, spiny varieties are your best bet. |
| stephanie | Aug 05, 2005 | Why do the chicken and hens plants have the big ugly srout grow up form the middle? Is it spoze to do that? What does it mean?
That's just how they bloom. I guess the plant doesn't really care if we find it ugly or pretty :-) |
| Bobbijomorway | Aug 14, 2005 | I HAVE HENS AND CHICKENS PLANT HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU WATER THEM. AND I WANTED TO KNOW WHY THEY CURL UNDER IS IT BECAUSE I TO MUCH WATER PLEASE LET ME KNOW
Don't water them. They really don't need it. I don't know if your specific problem is due to overwatering, but regular water is more likely to hurt than help. |
| Louise | Aug 24, 2005 | I also have those ugly stalks but I wonder if there is some way to propagate the plant with those stalks and their contents? Should I just let the stalks die a natural death? Does the death of the stalk have anything to do with the arrival of the chicks? |
| Liz Thompson | Sep 10, 2005 | I read that the hens and chickens that have the stalks/flowers are the male species of the plant. I've also read that it is normal for them to die off after flowering. |
| Pamela | Oct 10, 2005 | I have some lovely hens and chickens in a strawberry pot outside of my front door. How shall I winter these plants?
They are very hardy. Unless your climate is interior Northern Canada, they should overwinter just fine left outside in the pot. If you're afraid the pot might crack, you could place them in a temporary pot, or any other location that's reasonable well-drained, outside. |
| Renee | Dec 13, 2005 | You have beautiful semps. Wish they were mine ... Gosh, am I egostics, I have over 350 diffrenet ones ... Still looking for more. Did you know there are more than 4.000 cultivars?
That's funny - I don't even know where I got mine, probably a discount nursery. But yeah, I like 'm too :-) |
| Erin | Apr 18, 2006 | The squirrels are eating my sempervivum! Do you have any advice that might help stop them?
I'm afraid the only thing I can say is - please keep them out of my neighborhood... |
| davo | Jun 01, 2006 | I love my hen and chicks. Do any of yours suddenly turn to mush and just deteiorate? I do water them,I probably shouldn't. Thanks the nice webpage. davo |
| Alberta Evans -berta48@bellsouth,net | Jul 07, 2008 | I would like to see a rooter for the chicken & Hens,I have had people to tell me there is one . I have been growing chicken & hens for a while now, but yet I have not to see a rooter for them. I would like to see one so if I have one to grow in my chicken & hens.
Thank you
Alberta Evans |
| cathy | Jul 10, 2008 | can you cut the flowers off and reroot them? how often do these flowers grow i have had mine for 15 years and this is the first time i see flowers on it.
I don't think the flowerstalks will root - but the main plants should make offsets that you can pull away and plant elsewhere. Ours don't flower every year, but do so more often than not. |
| Amy | Jul 29, 2008 | Yes I was wondering maybe what the tallest stalk was recorded.Because I have got a monster.I had them in little terra cotta pots and it is so tall now it flopped over and I had to stake it up.Everybody comes to my house and says "Oh my god is that a hen".I say why yes it is.Everyones questions are well have you been feeding that baby Miracle growth.I havent its totally natural.It's the biggest one I have ever seen.I didnt no if it was normal so I got online and looked it up,and I found your address.So thanks you answered a lot of questions that I had. |
| shirely | May 19, 2009 | the plants that make a stalk and a flower on top of them will not bloom again one chicken and hen will only bloom once in its life time dut the thing of it is you don't know when it will bloom. i have a whole garden full of them i love my chicken and hen garden my great grandmother was the one that started my chickens and hens. |
| nmhollyhox | May 31, 2009 | i have stalks like this every year on different plants but they never actually open with flowers. is this normal or are they male or do they just not have flowers? sometimes mine get so big they flop over. |
| blomma2 | Jun 18, 2009 | Sempervivums lifespan is 3 years. It sets many chicks during those years to carry on. A tall flower stalk up to 12" tall, depending on variety, signals the death of the hen shortly after. The stalk may root but it will just produce more flowers. The only way to propagate Semps is by its offsets.
I have 90+ different named varieties and have grown them since the 80's so I'm very familiar with these plants. I cut the flower stem off because it can get heavy and lean, uprooting the chicks. Once I see the mother hen dying, I cut her out so the chicks will have more room to develop.
Sempervivums are best purchased as young 1-year old hens. This gives 2 years of production. Semps don't usually produce chicks until the following season after their "birth".
To retain color longer, shading from the hot afternoon sun is beneficial. Their most intense color is usually during May and June. Some are the prettiest later on due to seasonal color changes.
Anyone interested in purchasing Sempervivum can visit my Ebay store or auction. My seller name is blomma2. |
| Ann | Jul 22, 2009 | We call the sprouts the "rooster". I like hens and chicks mainly for the cute name. |
| Sabrina | Jul 30, 2009 | I have had hens and chicks for years. They came from my Mother who has had them as far back as I can remember, but I have never seen them sprout with a stalk and bloom until this past month. The frogs have been getting in them for shade. I chase them out because they are uprooting the hens and chicks. |
| karen park | Aug 06, 2009 | I have read your questions and answers and find the information great. I too have the long spiral shoot with many areas coming off in different directions. I was wondering if these little buds are what you plant to make more even though the plant propogates itself? I am going to try it.
Let us know how it works out! |
| Delores | Aug 30, 2009 | I just got some hens and chichens from my sister who has had them from beginning nearly sixty years ago. Do you think a motball or two would keep the squirrels away? |
| Tiffini | Dec 14, 2009 | I've always wanted hens and chicks my grandmother use to have those.
Where do I purchase these from seed, since there's so many varieties and it would be expensive to purchase each by plug. How long does it take for these to start blooming from seed. Help a new beginner.
I've not started them from seed myself (tried a few times, no luck). |
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Last modified:
April 05, 2009
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