Well, Cynthia, I just don't know for sure what to do, but I'll be happy to share my thinking. The clump that died for me started to look sickly last year during the spring rains, so I put it on the back porch where it would get bright light and I could control watering. I think I let it get a bit too dry as I noticed the outer leaves on the rosettes were drying up in mid summer, so put it back with the other semps in my collection. It seemed to do OK, but did not make it through the winter. Maybe I stressed it too much. I noticed a number of other heuffelii this year seems really dried out as well. We did not have consistent snow cover this year.
The other clump remained out in the yard all year and did fine. It is in a taller pot than the clump that died. A 1 gal nursery pot. I'm working on the assumption that heuffelii are a bit more water sensitive than other semps and jovis. By that I mean they are less able to take insufficient water or too much water. They need a happy balance between the extremes more than their relative types. I think heuffelii in general can handle more water than many semps, but more easily dry out than most semps. Xanthoheuff, however is noted for being sensitive to too much water.
Based on this idea, last year I started planting some of my heuffelli as under-plants to some of my larger potted small fruits plants. They are in really large pots, 18"-24" and up across. the small fruit grows out of the middle and the heuffelii are in a ring around the small fruit, half-way between the fruit tree and the edge of the pot. So far, so good.
Here is what I would do.
1) Plan your medium carefully. Use more porous silica in the mix, use some fine pine bark (not powdered, but 1/4"-1/2" size) to help keep a more balanced water level.
2) Use a deeper pot if planting in pots. If in the ground, plant on the side of a slope, not at the top nor at the bottom.
3) If dividing, keep at least two, preferably 3 or more rosettes together in each divided clump. Be sure to carefully dry (at least a week) all wounded areas before planting.
Just give a little bit better conditions than maybe the rest of you plants get and it should do fine.
Xanthoheuff is an older named heuffelii that has been around for a long time. If I remember correctly, it was the first one to demonstrate yellow coloring. That survival record implies that its not too difficult to grow. Lynn's beautiful yellow picture shows a lot more yellow on the plant than I have seen mine produce.
Also, if you are looking for yellow semps, then S. "Gazelle" should be on your list. It does a wonderfully colorful spring display featuring pale yellow, almost white, coloration and is an easy semp to grow. Just not as prolific as many others. I posted a pic on the "Your top 5" discussion.
