Tiny Beauties

Sempervivums are monocarpic, which means that they die after flowering. Most of them readily produce lots of chicks to take their place, so that’s not a problem. The typical life span of a sempervivum is three years. The first year they’re small chicks, the second year they start producing their own chicks, and the third year they flower and die. Some varieties flower very seldom and last for years. Other times, a rosette could suffer an injury and it would flower the first year in an attempt to quickly reproduce.

The plants themselves are quite small, so it’s not a surprise that their flowers are too. In fact, in order to really enjoy their beauty you need to see them up close and personal. With plants grown in the ground, that’s not always easy to do. Taking pictures seems to offer the best view for me.

When a sempervivum begins the process of producing a flower stalk, it starts to "cone," which means that the center of the plant starts to grow upward, forming a cone shape.


Flower stalks can range from a few inches tall to more than a foot high. Here is 'Meisse' sending up a bloom stalk.


The clusters of buds are also unusual and quite noteworthy. From left to right, buds of 'Bronco', 'Raspberry Ice', and 'Tokajense'.


The majority of sempervivum flowers are various shades of pink, but there are some red, yellow, nearly white, and green ones too. Often they have a stripe down the center of the petal. Most of them are about the size of a nickel. Names for the plants in each set are from left to right.

'Pacific Rim', 'Zilver Baby', 'Spanish Dancer'


'Raspberry Ice', ciliosum, 'Ali'


'Pyrenaicum', 'Artist', 'Spice'


'Stansfieldii', 'Zulu', 'Silver Fan'


'Hot Shot', pittonii, Pfalzer Nebel


Here are a few clumps of flowering sempervivum in the garden.

ciliosum, 'Pacific Blazing Star'


So next time you see some of these tiny beauties, be sure to take a step closer for a better look.