A guy's gotta sleep sometime and take a respite from the "honey do" list!

Okay, we'll try to control adding to your list.

Wasn't compaining. My "do" list has a lot on it, little from here. The stuff related to here is fun

Fun is good.

Hi, Lynn. This is my first time here. I came over because Chris (goldfinch4) suggested I tell you about my Aunt Kitty.

She had a cottage on the Niagara River and tons of Irises plus just about every plant I can think of. I was fascinated by what she did with her "hens and chicks." She stuck them on the bark of her trees and they grew there quite happily.

She died many years ago and the cottage is in someone else's hands now. I wonder if she left them out all winter or brought them in. I wonder if they are still there. I wish I had taken pictures of them.

Welcome , nap (now why do I like that handle??)

Hen & Chicks, Semps and Jovi's will grow lot's of places. My personal goal is to one day build a 6' pyramid to display my collection. I'm already experimenting with living walls. So why don't you honor you Aunt by planting some in or on a tree in your area? I'm sure you would enjoy experimenting with that. In the middle ages, they used to grow tectorums on their rooves (or roofs, if you prefer). They provided insulation of course, but the thinking of the time was that they protected the house from lightening - not true.

You can still find pics on the web of semps growing on rooves in England and Europe.

-t

But what about a Buffalo winter? Will it die outdoors?

Nancy, what a wonderful, imaginative person your Aunt Kitty must have been. So sad there are no pictures. : ( But there are the memory pictures in your head, how great that is. Do you draw? : ) Do you every go back to that area?

twit, I would love to see that pyramid, what a great way to showcase your collection, up instead of out. I can see it in my mind. I love it.

What zone are you Nancy? They grow to zone 4, some hardier than others.

According to DG, I'm in zone 6A. Some maps say I'm in zone 5.

I'm going to contact Aunt Kitty's daughter. Maybe she will know what her mother used to do.. Thank you for all your advice and interest, Lynn.

You will be able to grow them, pretty much all of them.

Yay! Good news!

As far as hardiness goes, my small but growing collection of Jovibarba all wintered better than some of the Sempervivum. I had put all the Jovibarba in an old wheelbarrow, and half way through the awful wet then freezing weather we got all winter I worried about them. I should have never been concerned, as I lost about half of the Sempervivum that were in shallow containers, but only one type of Jovibarba didn't make it. Phew....

Blue Fox, can you tell us what Jovi's you have. The Jovi's, especially the hirta's are very tough. It would be helpful to some here to see a list of what did not make it thru the winter v.s. what did make it thru the winter. That gives some indication of hardiness to others.

Jacki it also helps if we know your growing zone. Do you use the same growing zones we do, or do you have a different system? The only ones I lost this last winter where in pots. All of them in raised beds came through with flying colors.
twit is right, having that information would make it easier to understand which ones will be hardier in weather conditions like yours. Would be very valuable info.

Sorry to take so long to respond - I missed this post!
I'm sorry also that I don't know which Jovibarba I have, they were a bulk deal with no labels, as they are really hard to find I just grabbed at the chance!

For the zone, I am in Canadian zone 5a, and I think that is pretty much the same as the USDA one.

From your pics, I have Violet, Purple Haze and Sundancer, as well as several of what I call sobolifera or allionii, as they are rounded with the pointed leaves - these never really open up, not like the heufellii. I'll try and id them and let you know.

As for hardiness, I only lost the one type, and again, it was noid. I will try and keep track better in the future. I'm going to run into the same problem as I bought several types of seeds for Jovibarba and Sempervivum, of which four have come up - and there are billions! Well, not quite, but you know what I mean - whatever will I do with them all....

How exciting, from seed. Wow, can you share pictures of the baby seedlings?

Jovi's started from seed will be no id plants, as varieties can be propagated only from offsets or cuttings(vegetatively). That makes it interesting because that is how we get new varieties. Some of the bigger growers do propagate from seed, which can be why you see plants in big box stores and elsewhere without varietal names or labels. Your bulk deal couldb very likely be seed propagated jovi's.

Breeding specific plants or varieties to create new hybrids can be very interesting. That is how we got the named hybrids we all enjoy. Watch your seedlings closely to see if you have something new under the sun. Perhaps a variegated or polka-dotted semp or jovi will show up and be stable.

Wow, wouldn't that be exciting Jacki. A polka-dotted semp, or one with cream colored variagation. Oh, the pictures in my head. We can't wait to see what you got from your seed.

I'll look out for the polka dotted ones - they are very small yet, so it'll be a while.
I think the place I got the first lot from that are all either three or four year rosettes (some starting to flower, so I'll save my own seed!) and they did have a catalogue which listed them all individually, but no pictures, so trying to ID them from vague descriptions will be a chore.

Here's a picture of the seedlings - seeds were planted in June, and they came up within a week (no cold period needed for these) and they should be good to repot into two inch pots by early August. I want them big enough to winter outside, so that will be a learning curve too!

Those are just to cute, first time I ever saw baby semp seedlings.
Twit is right though about really knowing what the plants actually are. The seed may have come from a particular named cultivar, but that doesn't mean that is what the seedlings actually are. Twit, how do you label the seedlings?
Say I had seed from S. 'Red Rubin', I planted it and got seedlings. Would I label the seedlings as S. 'Red Rubin' x? I'm not sure on what is correct. Help us out here.