Kevin, now i must get 'copper kettle', I have had revereware copper bottom pans since my 20s. Indestructible, i have added to that original set as I have found the old good ones for sale and now have a huge set. I alas, don't polish them very often.

This colony has the most plants, but since they are small still fit in an 8 inch pot.
Sonja

Very nice colony Sharen.

Holy Smokes, Sharen!

Lynn, Bev, thanks. It looked exactly the same for a year after planting but when it took off it never stopped. Sonja has very little leaf die back and survived the monsoons of 2021 with no problem.

In my book that makes 'Sonja' a keeper for sure.

My starter colony arrived from @cwhitt today.
I planted them close to the foundation on the North side of the house where they will get morning sun.
The ground slopes away from the foundation, and the roots are just sitting on the ground with about 3/4 to an inch of gravel over the top and up under each rosette so they shouldn't get too wet.
I can add gravel as they start putting out stolons so they will continue to have a nice, deep supply and can decide to root into the ground only as much as they want to.
I'm so excited!!!

FPF said: My starter colony arrived from @cwhitt today.
I planted them close to the foundation on the North side of the house where they will get morning sun.
The ground slopes away from the foundation, and the roots are just sitting on the ground with about 3/4 to an inch of gravel over the top and up under each rosette so they shouldn't get too wet.
I can add gravel as they start putting out stolons so they will continue to have a nice, deep supply and can decide to root into the ground only as much as they want to.
I'm so excited!!!

Just wait till they start hatching those "chicks"!

Loving the new growing experiment FPF. Keep up updated.

Here's today's picture. I thought they'd be more obviously affected by the heat, but they're still looking good.
I did put crushed ice on the gravel last night, in case that might help. I didn't think it would hurt, since the roots are just sitting on top of the soil and they're on a slope, so any extra could run off or soak in and not be a problem. Almost all the leaves are all still nice and firm, although some look slightly wrinkled.

This is good news. So far so good.

Nice and firm semps are always good in my book!

FPF said: Here's today's picture. I thought they'd be more obviously affected by the heat, but they're still looking good.
I did put crushed ice on the gravel last night, in case that might help. I didn't think it would hurt, since the roots are just sitting on top of the soil and they're on a slope, so any extra could run off or soak in and not be a problem. Almost all the leaves are all still nice and firm, although some look slightly wrinkled.

They actually look a little greener to me.

Def a bit greener

Look what I found deep in my lily patch. I had forgotten that I used the pot to anchor down an inverted tomato cage that was used to support a huge lily last year. Tomato cages work real well for that purpose but have to have weight on the top ring (which is actually on the ground for this use). The pot is full of Pekinese.

Wow, that is a very large colony of 'Pekinese', in screaming green. What fun.

What a nice surprise. Those are the best kind of surprises

valleylynn said:...colony of 'Pekinese', in screaming green. What fun.

...and so it pretty much took care of itself?...what a Perfect Colony!

Bev, I know it is hard for you to imagine a semp taking care of itself. I only had to remove a couple of small pieces of debris to get the photo. Something I have noticed over the years, some semps grow very well like this for extended periods of time. They very rarely set up a bloom stalk. No bloom = no death debris to clean up. I have a few containers that grow very well this way.