Viewing comments posted to the Sempervivum Database

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:'Greenwich Time' is from 'Cleveland Morgan' X calcareum. It goes through a couple phases, sometimes looking like a more purple larger version of 'Cleveland Morgan' and sometimes looking like a velvety calcareum. Helen didn't believe me when I told her the pedigree as she had never had calcareum bloom. Several years later a box arrived from Helen with a blooming calcareum and a note attached saying "I believe you now".

It was from my very first year of crossing, If you cover the calcareum stalk you will see that it makes TONS (well maybe not tons, but lots) of pollen. I dud use 'Extra' and 'Guillaume' in crosses last year and rediscovered what I had known in '64: calcareums make lots of pollen!

The only bad thing about 'Greenwich Time' is that it's a cross of two diploids and nearly sterile. I had one seedling last year and about 6 this year from open pollinations. I do save those as they are likely to be odd combinations of things genetically.

Kevin

A comment from the breeder of 'Holly Jolly'.

JungleShadows said:Holly Jolly is one of the more unusually patterned Killer seedlings and it did SCREAM XMAS because of the red and green coloration. It's not as big as some of the others from those groups.

Oddly enough I haven't used it much in crosses. I was concentrating on the bigger siblings. (much to Bev's chagrin!)

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Weirdo isn't quilled but it is ODD. Splits and produces rosettes at strange places and never has a proper center. Very unkempt!

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Aymon Correvon and Belladonna are nearly sterile. Aymon Correvon is a montanum X wulfenii cross so two diploids with different chromosome counts. It is the plant equivalent of a mule. Belladonna is montanum X somebody but i'm not sure who. I still try each year to cross on to Aymon but so far not seedling one. Greenwich Time is montanum X calcareum and i have exactly ONE seedling. It is a nice one though!

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Aymon Correvon and Belladonna are nearly sterile. Aymon Correvon is a montanum X wulfenii cross so two diploids with different chromosome counts. It is the plant equivalent of a mule. Belladonna is montanum X somebody but i'm not sure who. I still try each year to cross on to Aymon but so far not seedling one. Greenwich Time is montanum X calcareum and i have exactly ONE seedling. It is a nice one though!

Kevin

I am fond of Sempervivum Tectorum because it has actually been in my family for 100 years! It was only here at garden.org that I found out it was a "Semp" - we always just called them Hens & Chicks. Until recently, I thought there was only one variety of Semps, but the Semp forum here is extremely active and I found there are many, many varieties of Semps. Some of them are mostly red, and some of them are rather fuzzy. I don't think all of those may be as hardy as this one though - this one is very hardy (at least a hundred years hardy!). I live in Ohio (zone 6) and my semps do very well here - both in summer and winter. Each 'hen" sends out smaller ones, called "chicks." They grow in a big mass and make a good ground cover for sunny areas. I also use them for erosion control and they are great for that. They are trouble free, require minimal water, and weeds or grass will not grow through them at all. When I transplant them to different areas, I just pull them up, lay them down where I want them, and sprinkle a little dirt over the root. They look great all lined up along a walkway and will keep soil from washing onto the sidewalk. On occasion, they will bloom - sending up a tall stalk with pink flowers on them. Blooming signals their death though, which is not usually a problem because they usually produce several chicks first. And if you are interested in crossing Semps to breed new varieties, you need them to bloom to do that. The Semp forum is great here, and can help you with that, or give you more information.

This is a lovely arachnoideum type semp when grown well. Observing it over the years I find that it does not do well in full sun during our 2 to 3 months of drought season here in the Pacific Northwest. It tends to burn easily under full sun conditions. If given some protection during the hottest part of the day, say 1/2 day sun or filtered bright light, they will reward you with a lovely colony of web covered semps. Most of the webbing disappears during the wet winter and spring months, but returns with vigor once things warm up and dry out.

Here is some history on the lovely sempervivum:

JungleShadows said: It's one that I gave the whole clump to Toby (Young's Garden Center). It's number was A2-7 and my notes say "bright red, with better red color than Killer". That's about right. It also seems to be one of the bigger ones from the self pollination, harking more back to Killer's pod parent in form and color.

Kevin

youngsgarden said:"That's one of Kevin's (Vaughn's) cultivars. It was one from the first year that
he got back into hybridizing semps.
He was using Killer a lot then if I recall correctly.
Because there were so many good varieties in Kevin's first batch of seedlings,
that one was never officially named.
We kept the unnamed seedling because we liked it a lot and it increases well.
One of our children started calling it Dragon's Eye so
when we began selling it in 2016 we just put that name to it.
Hope that helps,
Toby Lander
Young's Garden"

This is a natural form of sempervivum marmoreum, not a tectorum:
Sempervivum schlehanii var. Tokajense Domokos in Magyar Kir. Kert. Tanintéz. Közlem. 2: 39. 1936.
From: Letz, D. R .: A new species of the Sempervivum marmoreum group
In Central Europe

After having no offsets for a few years, Waldaline is making up for lost time.

Slow to multiply for me.

turini said:Mother of 'Little Miss Sunshine' is 'Bronze Pastel', Father unknown. Mother of 'Bronze Pastel' is S. marmoreum ssp. erythraeum ex (from) RILA - Bulgaria, father of 'Bronze Pastel' is S. marmoreum 'Chocolate'

I no longer grow this sempervivum because of considerable winter die back in my zone 7 garden.

This cultivar has been culled from my zone 7 collection of Sempervivum due to constant winter damage even when covered to protect from the rain.

Shirley's Joy has been nothing but a disappointment. This cultivar every winter dies back to the brink of death, then as the growing season progresses it recovers but never looks outstanding in my zone 7 garden. My Sempervivum gardens are covered during the rainy season and still this cultivar is a poor performer.

This sempervivum has been culled from my collection after repeated winter damage even when covered all winter. Seems to almost die and then when spring comes it rebounds but never looks outstanding. Many other cultivars that will perform better can replace this.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the naming of this sempervivum. S. 'Donar Rose' should look like the top photo, with tufting at the tip of the leaves and relatively long cilia along the leaf edges.

Hen and Chick (Sempervivum 'Donar Rose')
Posted by springcolor

S. 'Donarrose' is a smooth tectorum type of sempervivum. Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum 'Donarrose')

Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum 'Donarrose')
Posted by valleylynn

Here is a link to a discussion on these two sempervivum. The thread "Donar Rose verses Donarrose" in Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum

You can see they are very different types of semps.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the naming of this sempervivum. S. 'Donar Rose' should look like the top photo, with tufting at the tip of the leaves and relatively long cilia along the leaf edges.

Hen and Chick (Sempervivum 'Donar Rose')
Posted by springcolor

S. 'Donarrose' is a smooth tectorum type of sempervivum. Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum 'Donarrose')

Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum 'Donarrose')
Posted by valleylynn

Here is a link to a discussion on these two sempervivum. The thread "Donar Rose verses Donarrose" in Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum

You can see they are very different types of semps.

A comment by Truls Jensen:

Rosa Spumanti and Spumanti are siblings but individual cultivars. Spumanti was a volunteer seedling that was profusely netted and that produced many small offsets so that when grown in a container it appears to be foaming over, hence the name Spumanti (foam or sparkling in Italian). Rosa Spumanti is similar except the rosettes are slightly larger and blushed with red and not quite as 'sparkly'.

I'll take a look at the chapter this evening.

Truls
Wild Ginger Farm
24000 Schuebel School Rd
Beavercreek, OR 97004

A comment by Truls Jensen:

Rosa Spumanti and Spumanti are siblings but individual cultivars. Spumanti was a volunteer seedling that was profusely netted and that produced many small offsets so that when grown in a container it appears to be foaming over, hence the name Spumanti (foam or sparkling in Italian). Rosa Spumanti is similar except the rosettes are slightly larger and blushed with red and not quite as 'sparkly'.

I'll take a look at the chapter this evening.

Truls
Wild Ginger Farm
24000 Schuebel School Rd
Beavercreek, OR 97004