Sempervivum, or Hens and Chicks, is one of those succulents that Brian’s grandma had all around her garden when he was a kid. They’re super easy to take care of and very low maintenance. These sempervivums Hens and Chicks have come a long way from the plants that were the ones that his grandma had in her garden. Check out one of these brand new ones.
Watch as Brian Bauman shares tips on planting your Hens & Chicks succulents.
Gold Nugget Succulent
Gold Nugget came out about four or five years ago and was blown away. It is amazing because, with the winter cold, it shuts everything down. And then, as we get sunny days in the winter time, it starts to burst, and that energy comes out in these beautiful golden rosettes with red tips. There are a lot of different variations that have come out since then.
Gold Rush Succulent
Another brand new one is called Gold Rush. It’s similar to the Gold Nugget succulent. It still has a bright, almost golden hue, but it also has a nice red center. This succulent has a beautiful color, which is really cool.
Other Color Succulents
And the colors don’t stop there. We have some only pure red ones. A lot of these have been around for years, but there is a newer one called Onyx, which is a beautiful, bright red color. There’s an amethyst one that’s almost kind of blue and red together. Another one is called Killer, which has a blood-red color to the succulents with the green tip.
Rollers
These are in the hen and chicks family, but they’re actually called rollers because there are not really any roots to them as the little baby chicks come out. They’ll actually kind of roll off to the side and roll down to root themselves. The bright green colored one provides great contrast.
Planting
A nice low terracotta bowl works well for planting succulents because you don’t have a lot of soil volume that holds a whole bunch of water that gets them. The easiest way to kill these is to overwater them and have them rot out. Once you fill the planter up, it almost looks like a painting. The golden nugget really stands out.
Espoma’s potting soil mix is the best for succulents since it provides good drainage. All Espoma products have a nice resealable opening to them, so if you don’t use the whole thing, you can seal it back up.
Succulent Care
Your immediate reaction when you create most planters is to water everything. Do not do that with succulents. Plant it, then leave it completely dry to give them a chance to shoot down some roots into the soil so that in a week and a half, maybe even two weeks, they can start soaking up their water.
Set your potted succulents outside. They will do much better outside than they will inside. There’s just not enough light. And all of these succulents are hardy down to about -20 degrees. They are super hardy and super easy to take care of. Give them lots of light water very sparingly, once or twice a month in the summertime. Give them a good soak. And you’ve got this beautiful painting of succulents ready to go.