Odd plant
- 31 January 2012 17:42150600does anyone know what this twelve headed plant is?
i bought it about 4 years ago in pencester gardens for 25 pence at a town council event.
it had one head(floret) about the size of a 50 pence piece and there was nothing to indicate whether it was best off indoors or outdoors.
i had it in the kitchen for a couple of years then decided to experiment and put it in the garden. two snowy winters later it is 12 times the plant it was. in the summer bedding plants tend to hide it from the sun so i do not understand why it is so resilient.
- Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
31 January 2012 18:10150613It is a sempervarium, we have some babies in the shop at the moment.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 31 January 2012 18:30150622thanks jan i expected either kath or ray to come up with the answer first.
are they intended to be indoor or outdoor plants? - 31 January 2012 18:40150625Semper-Vivum (live-forever) Completely hardy, outdoors all year, does not like being grown indoors. Will protect your house from lightning.
Sempervivum: These succulent plants are commonly known as Houseleeks. They are an alpine plant, hardy in Britain, and will stay outside all the year. They grow better in the garden than in the house, and can exist in very little, or very poor soil. But they need FULL sunlight, and do not like to be in wet soil for too long, so should be planted in well drained soil. Repot in house plant compost (or John Innes), with extra grit and plenty of drainage material (and a hole) at bottom of pot, they do best in clay pots. They spread each year, forming new plants, and when they get to maximum size will send up a flower stalk (pink flowers usually). Each plant which flowers will then die but leave many offsets behind. They are also attractive when grown in crocus pots (plant one plant in each of the holes), or in holes in bricks.
The Emperor Charlemagne in France ordered every house roof in France to be planted with these plants, to protect the house from lightning.
They have also been used in wart-charming. There are many, named, varieties.
This one is Sempervivum Arachnoideum (Spider Web houseleek). The flower is terminal, usually pink.
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 31 January 2012 18:46150630excellent stuff kath, i forgot about the flower in summer.
the plant gets very little light in summer for reasons explained but the flower somehow pokes it's way through then the stem turns brittle and i break it off.
interesting about lightning. - 31 January 2012 18:59150635Howard, to the right of the lone plant on the left are those slug pellets or rabbit droppings?
- 31 January 2012 19:02150638Another thread with feaces i hope not
- 31 January 2012 19:09150641didn't notice that barry, will look again in the morning and confirm.
terry - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
31 January 2012 19:41150648So which plant is it Kath's picture or this one
http://thegardencanvas.co.za/corporate-green-gifting/tesssa-132/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 31 January 2012 20:17150651Howard,
Looking through my RHS book of every flower you'll ever need to know about I think it's Sempervivum montanum, one of the houseleeks as Kath describes above. Are the flowers on yours like the ones in the pic?
- 31 January 2012 20:46150659don't think that is the one ray, the flowers were much more like post 4. i notice also the "offsets" are much closer together than in my pic.
- 1 February 2012 11:24150729Jan - the one in the web page you gave -they have got the name wrong (as often happens with plant names), it should be SEMPERVIVUM.
S. tectorum and S. montanum are well known species, flowers are all very similar and pink.
There are a lot of different species, and also quite a lot of hybrids, names like: Lipstick, hey-hey, lively bug, Kramer's spirad, etc.
They do very well in terra cotta pans, old sinks, and containers which don;t hold much soil, but must have drainage holes and if given plenty of direct sun should grow well and flower.
Reddish ones are attractive.
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 1 February 2012 11:27150730
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 1 February 2012 11:30150731There are a lot of species, not always easy to name them.---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 1 February 2012 11:35150733My mum used to plant these under our window as cat used to do their bit there. Needless to say it stop them. You wouldn't want to sit on one, that'
s the plant not the cats!!! - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
1 February 2012 12:41150749That is interesting Kath, I have always known them as SEMPERVARIUM not SEMPERVIVUM I wonder if that is another name for them depending on where you come from.
I have only grown the more straggly variety like Howard's not a clump forming one like yours.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 1 February 2012 12:52150753number 13 looks like my one, cannot confirm until summer arrives though.
in answer to barry post 6 just normal soil that looks odd in the photo, whilst checking that i noticed that a small sprig of alyssum has flowered, normally that comes into its own in my garden in july/august. - 1 February 2012 13:24150760Straggly or compact - all due to SUNLIGHT Jan ! They like to be in very exposed light conditions.
I don;t know of any other name for Sempervivum, that is the Latin name, 'houseleek' is the common name in Britain.---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 1 February 2012 14:12150771Lots of photos can be seen on:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sempervivum&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6TkpT7CVDoSm8gPo9cCrAw&ved=0CJQBELAE&biw=1814&bih=1090---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 22 July 2013 20:57238352bit of background first - the house is 2 doors from me and before i moved here a lady who was a keen gardener passed away and various itinerants have moved in for short periods of time and once a year the landlord sends someone round to cut the undergrowth back.
my neighbour pointed this plant out to me and said that he had never seen it flower in the 5 years he has lived there.
the photo does not do it justice as i took it late this evening.
