Sempervivum

[McDonough]

Cohan, good to see that the snow has receded enough for some peeks at your semps, soon they will be plumping up and taking on strong color.

It is still a bit early for semps here, but they're starting to show color. In one of my planters in particular, Jovibarba heuffelii 'Gold Bug' is brightening up, as are the sempervivum neighbors.  Here are a few early shots. The yellow and red-tinged one is the Jovibarba, the green and purple-brown tipped one is Sempervivum pittonii, and the amber red one is S. 'More Honey', a favorite.

[RickR]

Showing lots of color, Mark.  You're right, that is Sempervivum arachnoides 'Minus' in my trough.  In another couple weeks it will look like this:

               

And a month and a half or so, like this:

               

[cohan]

Looking good Mark and Rick;
Mark, really love the heuffelii, haven't tried any here yet....
We had another 15cm or so of snow wed night/thurs morning, and some more flurries last night.. semps are bare again already, though some other beds are still deep.. last night was -11C or so -quite impressive that these plants are already showing signs of life!

[cohan]

Finally managed to get some fairly accurate pics of some dark semps, they can be tricky to photograph! These are all from my plants received from Europe as  'lost-label', and planted in a new bed last fall after a couple of years in community pots..

[Hoy]

I think these are the darkest I have ever seen!

[cohan]

They are dark  Of course it varies through the year, depending on conditions, and I'm wondering if it varies even on a smaller scale- after a day of scattered light showers, and more rain overnight, they seem slightly less dark today, though I didn't have time to really look.. next I have to capture some of the really red ones!

[RickR]

Sempervivum arachnoides var. bryoides and S. arachnoides x S. pittonii

          

[cohan]

I like the pink ones You are just a little ahead of me- I have an arach in bud, along with ciliosum..

[RickR]

Sempervivum arachnoides 'Minus' has very small rosettes and is great for a trough.  Blooming behind is Sempervivum 'Red Ace'.
               

Has anyone had this happen before?
Here you see normal stalked Red Ace flowers and one that has almost no stalk.
          

[McDonough]

Has anyone had this happen before?
Here you see normal stalked Red Ace flowers and one that has almost no stalk.

Yes, it seems quite common to get nearly stalkless flowering on semps sometimes, not sure why.  Here is Sempervivum 'Brock' with flowers developing right at rosette level, the photo taken today.




Also flowering, is S. pittonii, one of the better ones for flowers and stalks in proportion to the neat rosettes.  It rarely flowers, so I'm happy to notice a couple stalkd today.




Noticed today that Sempervivum 'Noveau Pastel' is showing three rosettes that are going to bloom.  This one almost never blooms.  I might collect the seed and grow on seedlings on this one, there are so few semps with this coloration; all spring the warms tan-coffee brown color has been a delight, it is now turning a chartreuse-tan color.  Behind it is Jovibarba heuffelii 'Torrid Zone' that is about to flower, this is perhaps the showiest of the heuffelii cultivars.




Rick, I said it before, but I'll say it again, I really like your refined trough with S. arachnoideum and others, including hardy cacti.  Is the cross S. arachnoideum x S. pittonii one of your own making?  I'd like to see what the rosettes look like.

[Hoy]

You really have some nice semps, Rick and Mark. Mine have almost disappeared the last years due to invading grass and other plants, and flowering. Some seems to almost flower itself to death, like this one: (Sorry for the bad picture but my camera is dead and my wife's is out of power!)




Nameless as usual, but this time it isn't my fault. The semps for sale here have almost never names and many of my plants are old "heirlooms" without names too.

Regarding short flower stalks I have noticed that this sometimes happens when a rosette in vigour growth suddenly change mind and starts flowering in stead of continuing growth. The rosettes due to flower are usually initiated very early in spring.

[RickR]

Has anyone had this happen before?
Here you see normal stalked Red Ace flowers and one that has almost no stalk.

Yes, it seems quite common to get nearly stalkless flowering on semps sometimes, not sure why.

Then I suppose breeders have already taken seed from these short anomalies in hopes of manifesting the trait, but without success.  what a pity...

Rick, is the cross S. arachnoideum x S. pittonii one of your own making?  I'd like to see what the rosettes look like.

No, I bought it just this spring.  The company sent a few rosettes which I planted up, and they are still growing in a rather shaded location, so I am not sure the form (or color) is completely true.  I had planted some starts of S. calcareum that are in the same conditions, so I took a picture of both, and had some photos of the same S. calcareum clone in other seasons that might give you a better idea of the cross's characteristics.

S. calcareum and S. arachnoides
              

S. calcareum in early December and late April.
        

[RickR]

Sempervivum 'Jestor' is aptly named with the apple green and red coloring.  I think it is the best one I have for holding its colors in the adverse conditions of heat and drought stress.

               

[Hoy]

Rick, don't they all keep some colouring during summer? Those I have do although I can't say we experience heat stress - drought maybe, but heat, what is that

[cohan]

Trond, no heat stress here either, and no drought the last couple of years! Its pouring now, again, but supposed to be dry for a few days after this, and we may even hit 30C by monday- if so, it would be the first time this year...
My semps have kept good colour all year in these last few cool years- I haven't been back here for a warm dry summer yet- not sure if we will ever have one again  My dark reds are still very dark, and several are coming into flower now..

Rick, my S ciliosum, which flowered on something like 7 or more stalks last year (on fewer square inches than that) later in the season also produced some very short flower stems, below the still flowering tall stems; I figured those new ones just didn't have the energy anymore to be taller! amazingly, that clump of ciliosum totally filled in around those dead rosettes so you can't even see any gaps, and is flowering again this year on about 4 stems, impressive plants for monocarpics!

Mark, I like the brownish ones too, I have one tiny no name which is quite brown in spring, though less so in its summer colour...