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Articles - Colour
Sempervirens - Red beauty - Hens-and-chicks - house leek
GLOBE AND MAIL, 2001
DIG THIS
by Marjorie Harris
What is it?
Sempervirens 'Red beauty', Hens-and-chicks, house leek
Why grow it?
All sempervirens are amazing looking plants. The fleshy rosettes are drought tolerant and will fit into the most curious little crevices. They are superb in containers and are the solution for gardening on a wind swept balcony. Semps come in an unbelievable variety of textures (including several webbed forms) and there are enough colours (from brilliant red like this one to the palest of green with striations of all colours) to make a considerable tapestry of them. Great addition to a screened garden or trough or just scatter them about the border as a filler. Be a collector- there are forty species and over a thousand cultivars.
How and when?
You can plant them anytime. They don't need deep or particularly good soil. In fact the poorer and grittier, the better. It will hug rocks, stone containers and planter boxes. The off-sets as the babies (or chicks) are called will make new plants fairly quickly. Just tear them away and stick them in soil elsewhere. This can be done when the mother plant is looking crowded. I've left them in small containers all winter and they've survived. To do really well, however, they should be protected for winter moisture.
Where can I get it?
Just about any place selling plants including the big box stores.
Copyright Marjorie Harris, 2005
CONTACT MARJORIE HARRIS
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