My back went out last year. Its improved a fair bit with physical therapy but its still delicate and its obvious to me I'll have to cut back on some things, including my sempervivum collection. I' m going to keep some of my favorites and let the rest go. I'm looking for an experienced semp hobbyist with a collecting compulsion in my locality who would like them. They're in 6" and 8" pots. Some named, some noids. Includes a fair number of heufflis, and a few sedums. Maybe a total of 40 pots. Some duplicates, some mixed pots. Because I had to neglect them last year, some are not in peak shape. But I'm doing some repotting, and the ones I don't get to will still come back very nicely with division and a modicum of tlc. Nothing rare, but some good solid cultivars. This is an all or nothing offer...the person who adopts these will have to take the lot. They'll be ready to go in a couple of weeks. Anyone around Rochester, NY interested?

Hi Paul. I am sorry to hear about your back. Let's see what can be done to help find a local for you. If you could post a photo or two it might be helpful.

Thanks, Lynn! Great idea about the photo. I just quickly pulled a few together to give an idea of what I've got. This is only about a third or less of what I'll be letting go. In this group, along with noids and mixed pots, are:
Heuff. Red Munich University
Heuff. Jade
Heuff. Giuseppe Spiny
Sedum Cherry Tart
Lavender and Old Lace
Rita Jane
Pacific Blue Ice

I put a link to this thread, in the Sempervivum Chat forum.
What a wonderful treasure you are giving to a very lucky person. You must have a beautiful garden. Those pots of plants looked loved.

Thanks, Lynn. Indeed, I've loved having this collection. Semps are just amazing plants. But I'll still have my favorites ( and it was a very interesting exercise deciding which were my favorites!).

Oh I how I wished I lived near by

Same, Alex. I'd probably kill them all though, so it's actually a good thing I'm not in NY.

Johannian, if you lived in New York you wouldn't kill them.

Paul, I went through having to decide which were my very favorites two years ago. It it is an interesting exercise. From over 800 cultivar of semps, and countless other hardy companion plants down to 200 cultivars and an handful of companion plants.
I am glad to hear that you will be keeping a few to enjoy.

Even in NY I'd probably kill them. It's not so much the climate here as me just not knowing what to do with my semps, tbh.

sedumzz said: Oh I how I wished I lived near by

I'd foster some if I lived closer!!

Paul, another thing you could do is donate them to your local Master Gardener's Assoc. They can use them in their annual plant sale. That is how they fund all the things they do for the community.

Good thought! I'll look into that. We do have a fairly active master gardeners program here.

They do such great things.

dulcimore11 said: My back went out last year. Its improved a fair bit with physical therapy but its still delicate and its obvious to me I'll have to cut back on some things, including my sempervivum collection. I' m going to keep some of my favorites and let the rest go. I'm looking for an experienced semp hobbyist with a collecting compulsion in my locality who would like them. They're in 6" and 8" pots. Some named, some noids. Includes a fair number of heufflis, and a few sedums. Maybe a total of 40 pots. Some duplicates, some mixed pots. Because I had to neglect them last year, some are not in peak shape. But I'm doing some repotting, and the ones I don't get to will still come back very nicely with division and a modicum of tlc. Nothing rare, but some good solid cultivars. This is an all or nothing offer...the person who adopts these will have to take the lot. They'll be ready to go in a couple of weeks. Anyone around Rochester, NY interested?

How the story ends - I didn't get any local bites on my offer, so I took Lynn's advice and looked up our local Master Gardeners program. Their plant sale is tomorrow and they were very happy to take what I had to offer. I took them over to the sale site yesterday and today. Maybe 70 pots, including sedums and trough plants. I was pleased to be able to offer them to a worthy organization. I decided not to offer the heuffeliis, as I feel those are a bit different in requirement from standard semps, and I thought they might not find good homes. I'll figure out what to do with my extra heuffeliis later. Not counting the heuffeliis, Ive kept a little over 30 cultivars, about a third of them noids that have been with me for years and have proved their worth. So here's a couple of photos. The first was my semp collection in its heyday a few years ago...a crazy quilt of cultivars in 6" and 8" pots. I loved how they looked in May when they were in their best color. The second photo is the same area today...more austere, but I'm still keeping my hand in, and it will be more manageable. I have several additional tubs placed here and there in my yard. So life goes....

Perfect timing for you and them, both! Congratulations!

Paul, made my day with this report. Bless you in your downsizing. That is a huge difference. Feels good in a way, doesn't it? What a beautiful garden you have.
So many people will be blessed with you gift of plants.

valleylynn said: Paul, made my day with this report. Bless you in your downsizing. That is a huge difference. Feels good in a way, doesn't it? What a beautiful garden you have.
So many people will be blessed with you gift of plants.

Well, thanks so much for your support and suggestions with this project, Lynn. I really appreciate it. Yes, there is a satisfaction in simplifying that is a definite compensation for letting some stuff go. I've been thinning out some other possessions as well and its all good. As far as the semps go, I think it will ultimately be more satisfying to have a smaller collection I can attempt to grow to a high standard rather than a larger collection I can't do justice to.

Thank you for sharing your garden with us Paul. I agree about finding peace and satisfaction in my much smaller garden, and there is more time now to really enjoy it.

dulcimore11 said: ... As far as the semps go, I think it will ultimately be more satisfying to have a smaller collection I can attempt to grow to a high standard rather than a larger collection I can't do justice to.

I'm a firm believer in that also, Paul. Takes the work and pressure off.