Pros:
1. They are beautiful
2. They don't need lots of water
3. They colonize beautifully
4. Many sizes
5. They don't come true from seed
6. Relatively small
7. Fits into wood frames quite nicely.
8. Many colors
9. Many textures
10. Easy to find
11. You can use them in easy-to-maintain container designs
12. a totally legal addiction. Not frowned upon by society.
13. Have good interest nearly year-round
14. Easy to propagate with cuttings.
15. Newer, more consistent, prettier, hardier sempervivum are coming up at greater speeds!

Cons:
1. You get addicted to them.
2. They are difficult to grow in desert conditions (dry and hot).
3. Many can be difficult to grow in high heat with high humidity, sometimes they rot in low humidity too!!
4. Need lots of light
5. Don't like cold and wet environments.
6. picking off dead lower leaves is a pain
7. Squirrels, birds, and worms like to play pickleball with them.
8. Blooming can sometimes quickly kill a WHOLE mini-colony!

Not Pro, Not Con:
Mutant semps will one day rise up, form a gang, attack their caregivers, form a one world order system of government and attempt to take over the world

Anything else we should add on to here???

Very important they need light otherwise they etiolate, lose color, curl back and elongate.

Cons:
They are difficult to grow in desert conditions (dry and hot).
Many can be difficult to grow in high heat with high humidity.

Pro:
Many sizes
Many colors
Many textures
Easy to find

Pro:
You can use them in easy-to-maintain container designs

Hoping that Dirt doesn't mind that I re-posted a pic of her project to include in the "Pro" column...(I apologize in advance for once again reminding others about your green thumb, Dirt)

Pro:
Fits into wood frames quite nicely.

Pros:
1. They are beautiful
2. They don't need lots of water
3. They colonize beautifully
4. Many sizes
5. They don't come true from seed
6. Relatively small
7. Fits into wood frames quite nicely.
8. Many colors
9. Many textures
10. Easy to find
11. You can use them in easy-to-maintain container designs

Cons:
1. You get addicted to them.
2. They are difficult to grow in desert conditions (dry and hot).
3. Many can be difficult to grow in high heat with high humidity.
4. Need lots of light

Mutant semps will one day rise up, form a gang, attack their caregivers, form a one world order system of government and attempt to take over the world (not sure whether this is a pro or con).

Gee, I hope not...I'd like for them to get into those frames whether they like it or not (fingers crossed that they will like it...)
And if they do rise, gang and attack, I'll blame Kevin, Lynn, Jo Ann, Sol, Chris, Sue, Ed, etc.

No worries for me Bev, I'm breeding pacifists. Hey I could do a whole series of "Pacifists" like 'Pacifist Big Six -Six' and 'Pacifist Bev's Bumps'. OK I worked too hard in the yard today, my mind is obviously fried........ That series name might be a little too close to another series too.......

Kevin

That guy doesn't have anything close to the 'Bump' one; You got one up on him!

Fun thread Alex,
here's a con for you, they don't like being cold and wet either.

Au contraire John,
The care givers will undoubtedly be elevated to the most luxurious status this new semp society you speak of can afford them

Pro: a totally legal addiction. Not frowned upon by society.

Cons: working on that. I know! I know! Having to pick off the dead under leaves!

Good one!

Good ones Melinda.

'I'll show you my Sempervivum if you show me your Sempervivum' is an effective pick-up line in my square dancing club.

Love that one Johnmonno

I re-read the sticky with all the great information on the how & why of good growing conditions... refreshed my memory on CAM photosynthesis and realized why semps aren't working in my hot, dry, sunny "rock garden"... they just don't seem like a plant that would relish afternoon shade, but they do! I'm going to move a few to the front walkway and see how that works out.

Con
Squirrels like to play pickleball with them.

Great thread, TY!

I would say a "con" is that some of them like to rot, even in our hot and dry weather! Do we have a "rotter" thread somewhere?

Also the blooming can be a pain, when the whole plant including babies bloom, and bam, end of semp colony.

The pros far outweigh the cons though!

The squirrel thing accounts for the loss of way too many painstakingly chosen and specially ordered new plants. For anybody with the same issue, I only quite recently read a suggestion to pin a wire basket on top of the new plant. Once it starts forming a colony, it's pretty safe from the pickleball-playing, nest-building enthusiasts.

John, I want to join your square dancing club!

I can plant 2 new chicks in the same dollar store planter -- same mix, same large drainage holes, same conditions of wherever I put the planter... one will thrive and the other will slowly turn to mush or dry up (if not stolen by squirrels). Is "persnickety" just a semp thing, or is it me? If me, never mind. If a "semp thing," it's definitely a con!

My favorite "pro" is probably the ever-changing display of leaf color & markings. I want to take new photos almost daily. I think that one has already been listed as good interest year-round.

Semp addiction gives rise to a whole different subspecies of gardening enthusiasts. I don't think I'm a member, more just generally plant-addicted, but I do admire dedicated semp growers and breeders!! Thx for a fun thread.