Cynthia we have missed you. You must not be able to spend much time studying.
This would be a very busy time of year for you. Can't wait to see the photos of your new rock garden.
S. arach. 'Red Cobweb' is blooming.

I just looked thru all 3 pages of this thread and saw that just about everyone has an arach of some sort whether they be of the kind that is webby, or ciliated or fuzzy, etc.

My experience hasn't been great with these. My arachs have fallen by the wayside not unlike the Ficus Benjamia that has suffered due to being moved too many times. My semp collection was started in CA but then I moved them all to NM and then to WA and then back to CA (zone 9B).

Can anyone offer some generalizations regarding the care/growing needs of this particular grp of semps based on their collecting experience?
Does this semp group need less sun than most other semp? Are they more sensitive to cold or overwatering?

Do you get winter/freezing weather Bev?
How much summer rain do you get?
What are your day time highs in summer?
What part of Norther California do you live in? I see you have it as zone 9b.

There was freezing in NM (altitude 7000) and eastern WA. No rain in NM. Average highs were in 80's - 90's summer months. That takes care of those two states worth of lost arach. Here in Santa Rosa, I think I planted the current arachs in too sunny a place. Sun is for about 6hr + during these summer months and I'm wondering whether I lost some S. Stansfield (sp?) in these 80 + temps. Recently I have put Nsulate cloth over the raised bed after 2pm.

I'm finding they tend to not to be happy here, more than others. We get the rain that can go on and on. I have yet to get my soil fast draining enough to keep them happy.
Fuzzy Wuzzy grows well, but no one else really thrives. They might not out right die, but they don't grow. They just stay tight fuzzy/webby balls. Butterfly did not do well. The rest are generally un named. I'd love to hear what works for them.

Bev do you get freezing temps during winter months?
All of my semps are in full, baking sun. Summers we get no rain and stretches of 80, 90 and sometimes 100+ temps. I don't think it heat. Can you show us a photo of where they are growing? Is the soil fast draining?

Sherri I get the same long month of non-stop rain like you do. I use compost from out local source, it usually has a lot of forest product in it. Then I add sand and chicken grit. Funny that Fuzzy Wuzzy grows well for you, but not the arach. ones. I have lost Fuzzy Wuzzy twice now. Not sure what I am doing wrong, except I put them in pots instead of the raised beds. If I ever try them again they will definitely go out to the raised beds.

Have you tried Affine


Ali


Cobweb Joy

Cobweb Joy in the spring.


Fiesta


Lemon Babies is proving to be tough once you can get it going. Made it through winter and spring rains and baking summer this year.


This is a few that I have that seem to be very tough and put up with a lot of difficult weather, as long as they have fast draining soil. And in the summer drought they do need to be watered once a week.

I have lost the Affine, Ali and maybe Cobweb Joy(?). I was in Santa Fe for 13 yrs and yes winter was freezing at 7000 ft altitude and Spokane was also freezing and wet (really wet). But the entire 15 years my semp collection was in flats and under shade cloth during the snow and hot summers.

It is only now that I planted them into a raised bed in cactus mix mixed in with the ground soil that was already in the bed. Did not add sand but could that be such a factor in growing semps? Anyway the arachs were pretty much gone by the time I got back to CA and the few new ones planted are not doing as well as expected (am asking too much?). My planted semp bed is sandwiched between house and fence so summer sun was only getting to it between 10 and 3 or 4. This year we had the 80+ temps and a few weeks of 90+ but I started to shade the bed this last month for the last 2 hours of sun because things were looking brown and crispy.

And Sherri, I do remember the impressive Fuzzy Wuzzy from Seattle! I bought a pot and hope that maybe it survived in my semp bed or is planted in one of my strawberry pots.

Bev, those are all looking pretty good to me, for this time of year. I bet your arachs will perk up during winter and spring. : )
Once they do get going nothing seems to stop them. I do find that during drought they need to be watered thoroughly once a week.

thanks for the encouragement, Lynn!

It is just the truth Bev, those plants are looking very nice.

Nice looking bed there Bev!

Thanks Chris, but I'll tell you that I have been envying all the other people's photos of their arachs...especially the plum colored ones! Yesterday I pulled out the raggedy and the new young arachs and put them in a flat so that I can baby them in another location around the house. I hate to baby plants but if it would help...
The raised bed was just planted this May so maybe some of the semps are going thru: "Where the heck are we?"

It can take some of them time to establish. We've all had to go through that. I think what you are doing is working well Bev. And from what I can see in the photos, you have done a very good job of providing a fast draining soil for them. That is why they might need some extra water in your drought season.

Last few days it's been overcast and I thought it would rain (substaining on well water in NM makes me cringe when the city water bill arrives) but the 5 day weather forecast does not include rain. So off to the water hose I go...

So you are living and gardening in NM? Or you used to live in NM and had a well. : )

We have to pay for city water.

I used to live in NM for 14 years and boy, was gardening tuff there! Lack of rainwater, too close to sun (7000ft altitude), thirsty rodents looking for succulent leaves of sempervivums, etc.
While living in NM, my husband and I installed a 8000 gal. cistern underground to catch the rainwater off of two roofs so that I could pump the water into my landscaping. We also installed a MultiFlow septic system which recycled our house waste water to 90% to use for irrigation too. I think in some ways I'm still water conscious like I am back in NM. There are buckets in the shower and juice bottles near the kitchen sink to collect the cold water as I wait for the hot water to clean.

I decided to move back to CA and finally planted the 11 flats of sempervivums that I have lugged around from CA to NM to WA and back to CA. They are all in that raised bed now (minus a few arachnoidems).

Wow, those are some pretty tough semps to make all those moves in different growing conditions. They probably think they are in heaven now. : )

Wow, caring for and moving 11 flats of semps does sound like a lot of work.

We have our own well too and with our drought conditions I'm always afraid to water too much for fear the well will go dry. Some people did have that problem in our area this summer. Today we're supposed to get over an inch of rain. It's been a long, long time since we've got that much.

It rained here all day, was still raining when we went to bed last night. How glorious is was. My yard is so thankful.

This is the largest rosette of an arachnoideum I have ever seen. Wonder if it because it has been fertilized?
It actually is larger than the palm of my hand. Not a very good photo.


I bought it yesterday from Rite Aid. No cultivar name, just arachnoideum. Will be interesting to see how it grows under normal growing conditions.