I had 12 offsets from Lynn in April to see how they would change or retain their color during Texas summer. Darker colors were chosen for this study to observe how they would fair to each other as well. It has been humid in recent days with heat index close to 110s with temperatures in upper 90s. I decided to keep these offsets in protection starting today, so I wanted to share the results. Pictures are taken this morning.

Winner is "Dornroschen"
It retained about 50% of its spring color. I have only had it little more than 3 months so hard to tell how they would do rest of summer. I am hoping breeders would use this as one of the parents for future varieties.




Runner up is "Drachenblut"


There are two more I would like to mention due to unique features they have.
I like khaki green with red tips of "Burnt Embers"


And glossy leaves with red tips of "Hordubal"


Others lost their color and turned mostly green. Tips are green as well.

That Drachenblut looks like it lost the red I am used to see, very interesting. I am saying this because I have it too and for me it stayed red all time of the year, even with direct sun with 90-95F temp measured at shade (as in official temperature, as directly in the sun it way hotter), which I consider very high temperatures for sempervivum, but that is how last summer was so that was my experience. This year so far does not seem to have such hot temps.

How much direct sun these specimens had? They do look like they always had humid soil and direct sun was not too much present on their leaves.
I have for example Rita Jane and in one place pretty much stay a sort of green-blue, but in another place with the same amount of direct sun is more towards yellow and pink, more appealing I would say.
Same amount of hours of full sun, just different position, different angle, different humidity (one on the soil, one on concrete).

Rido I have tested over 200 semps here in South Carolina and would recommend "Black" to anyone living in the south. Not only does it color up well but it seems to thrive in heat where others tend to slowly fade away after a year or 2. There are a few others that do well here but if you want dark colors give black a try

Paleotemp,
It was located in very bright area with one hour of filtered morning sun and about 30 minutes of evening sun. I agree sun exposure makes a difference along with soil moisture level. Sun is very intense here during summer months, so I do not want to put too much stress at this time but I will next time around. We are also experiencing high morning temperatures. I have found out that cool mornings add more color. I have been observing semps almost everyday. I noticed that some semps had red hues on tip of the leaves when morning temperatures dipped down to lower 60s during late May. Unfortunately that has only lasted 3 days so Red hues disappeared when morning temperatures went up again.

Daniel, I had " Black" first year of my acquaintance with semps. I got it from local nursery so it did not have much color when I got it. Unfortunately they only last a few months before they disappeared. I am learning little more about them every year so I will hopefully get some variety that will last until flowering stage.

Some good observations.

Good luck with your semps and I hope you are able to find some that work well in your area. From the 200 some odd semps I've tried about 60 are still kicking. Of those about 40 are thriving so it can be a little heartbreaking trying to grow semps in the south. If you want to try a few that have done well here shoot me a treemail

Rido,
Have you tried 'Polly Bishop' or 'Watermark King'? They're two of my best year round dark plants.
'Borscht' and 'Patent Leather Shoes' are pretty good to, though PLS gets a bit murky during the hight of summer.
-Sol

Sol,
No I have not tried. I have been looking for "Patent Leather Shoes" but online nurseries seem to be out of stock. Local nurseries do not carry named semps except one or two such as "Pacific Blue Ice". I will definitely try to include the one's you mentioned.

Rido,

I walked through the seedling beds here and things from the 'Jungle Shadows' line showed the best color at this time of year. Actually I was pleased at how well 'Jungle Shadows' itself looked considering I named that in 1969! Way back when it was the ONLY one that kept its color year round. It was a breakthrough back then and I'm glad to see that despite many generations of its progeny are also exhibiting that trait. 'Killer' is another that is good but it is variable in its coloration. I find that interesting but some would rather they didn't change. Of course I've combined the two in things like 'Borsht' and 'Patent Leather Shoes'. If you can find 'Forever Midnight' it is giving the most persistently colored material. I have a spidery one in jet black that is really pretty.

Will try to harvest seed of some of these for you to try. It will be open pollinated but still should have a lot of progeny from selfing. I did harvest some seed off several dark heuffs and 'Lion King' for you yesterday and is shedding in bags now.

Kevin

Kevin,
Thanks! I am excited to see how your seedling would do here in Texas. Again, summer would be challenge however we figured out that shade cloth would be great help during intense sun. I am also evaluating a few organic biological fungicide solutions for sudden rot. Hoping that at least one of them will increase plants resistance.
I have seen the pictures of your darker color introductions. They look beautiful and I think would be suitable for Texas. I am preparing another wood box with shade cloth similar to other one. Also planning shade cloth for small part of the yard. At this time I am trying to figure out structure material, but it will not be up until next May. They will be home for new seedlings and some of the unique ones you mentioned.
Thanks again,
Ridvan.