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Nippy
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19-07-2014, 06:36 PM

Sempervivum

I have had these succulant type plants for years and this is the first time they have flowered.
They have also had millions of babies!



Anyone know, will they die now they have flowered??
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jantet
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19-07-2014, 06:44 PM
Ours flowered for the first time last year, and have done so again this year. We planted all the babies in the gravel paths, and they're all thriving!
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Nippy
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19-07-2014, 06:52 PM
Thanks Janet, someone "somewhere else" told me it would die now
I'm glad it won't!
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Malka
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19-07-2014, 07:12 PM
Originally Posted by Nippy View Post
Thanks Janet, someone "somewhere else" told me it would die now
I'm glad it won't!
According to Wikipedia [well I had to Google as I had no idea if they do or not and I am nosy! ] "After flowering, the plant dies, usually leaving many offsets it has produced during its life."

But jantet says hers did not, so who knows?!
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Nippy
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19-07-2014, 07:44 PM
Well I will let you know Malka, I have so many babies planted up that I won't have lost so much!
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jantet
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19-07-2014, 07:59 PM
Who am I to argue with Wikipedia! Perhaps what I think are the original ones are actually the babies and the poor parents have died!

All I know is, we started with a few (can't remember where they came from) and now we have hundreds!
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Malka
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19-07-2014, 08:28 PM
Being the inquisitive [nosy] person that I am, I have been googling again!

The only snag with Sempervivum plantings is that this genus is monocarpic i.e. each rosette can only ever flower once and then dies. The dead plant leaves a hole in a clump, which could be a problem with a roof carpet. The dead rosette should be carefully removed and the hole filled with gritty compost. Most species / cultivars produce lots of offsets which usually make up for any losses after flowering.
The Sempervivum Page

Many people are surprised to see their Sempervivums bloom. It takes three or four years for it to bloom, and the bloom is its last hurrah before it dies. Since the babies grow so quickly, the hole it leaves is soon filled in.
The Obsessed Gardener

After the mother plant flowers, it will naturally die, but by this time, the plant has likely produced many offsets that will continue to grow.
Sempervivum - Growing Hen and Chicks Succulents

I love the name "Hen and Chicks"!
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Nippy
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20-07-2014, 08:34 AM
Originally Posted by jantet View Post
Who am I to argue with Wikipedia! Perhaps what I think are the original ones are actually the babies and the poor parents have died!
!
Oh noooo orphaned plants

Interesting reading there Malka
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Malka
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20-07-2014, 08:45 AM
Originally Posted by Nippy View Post
Oh noooo orphaned plants

Interesting reading there Malka
I was nosy for two reasons.

1 - I am a naturally nosy booger who wants to know all about all sorts of "stuff", and

2 - I remember those plants from when we were very young [many, many decades ago] and Father had a rockery in one corner of the garden. We called them "Ice cabbages".
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jantet
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20-07-2014, 05:03 PM
Originally Posted by Malka View Post
I was nosy for two reasons.

1 - I am a naturally nosy booger who wants to know all about all sorts of "stuff", and

2 - I remember those plants from when we were very young [many, many decades ago] and Father had a rockery in one corner of the garden. We called them "Ice cabbages".
Never heard them called 'Ice cabbages'! We've always known them as 'houseleeks'.

Thought the way they are multiplying perhaps we should call them 'triffids!'
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