I got 'Temby' for all those awesome yellow, pink and orange combinations. Mine hasn't looked like that, although I am certainly willing to give it some more time. But does your 'Temby' ever look like this? What does yours look like now? I don't see anything like mine in our DB pictures.

That looks correct to me Tim. That coloring is at this time of spring is due to all the cooler temps and rain. Yours look about the same color as mine. Won't be long before they are this stage of coloring (June 2)

Now that's what I'm talkin' about. I hope it happens.

Tim I have many varieties that are darker than I have ever seen them. Some of them that should not be wide open are that way. I think there is a good chance that your Temby will lighten up when we get some sun. It will probably cup up again too.

I had to leave all of my semps for 2 weeks, outdoors and not watered. We got back to them yesterday and I panicked because they were all closed up and looking horrible. I watered them well, and this morning, they're all open again and look fine. It's amazing to me how fast they can change.

Good to hear they are better, Karen! Now you know the length of their tolerance.

Great save Karen.

I don't have any idea how long they can go without water in warm, dry, windy weather. I think 2 weeks was pushing it. I'm trying to get my husband to fix me up my fenced space with a drip system for watering while we're gone.

warm dry or very cold dry can desiccate semps pretty quickly. What are your temps like this time of year Karen?

It's roughly 50 overnight and high 70's in the daytime right now. When summer hits it can go as high as 103. When that happens I think they'll need to go to a shadier place for a while.

Karen I too am amazed at how quickly these plants can shift! That's great that they bounced back for you! Yes in summer you will need shade for sure with your temps!
Otherwise they'll live but probably not looking lush and lovely!

Karen, isn't the altitude at your place in NM a big number such that it would be a major factor in regards to sunlight?
It was 7000 ft altitude where I had lived in NM which is really different than 2000 ft and even more so close to sea level at other places. Salem is 153 ft.

How low can we go?
Or in Karen's area, 'How high can you go?'

We are at 6500 ft elevation here in NM.I'll definitely get them shaded before the triple digits hit. Fortunately it's not as bad as the Arizona heat. In AZ it stays that hot for hours, but in NM, it reaches the peak for the day and drops almost instantly back to 90's.

I think it's no Tucson...
and being 6500 ft closer to the sun is no picnic. I quit sitting out in the sun at 7000 ft as my lawn chair got sunburnt bad!!!

Yes, things fade quickly in the sun.

Karen, where I am I water most of them about every two weeks during our summer weather (95+ days are the norm) and keep them under 50% shade cloth. Some can go longer without water than others and some are thirstier, I have to pay attention as some will start to wrinkle and wither while others will look perfectly fine. 'Emerald Empress' and 'Pinkerine' are two that demand more summer water than any of my other sempervivums. I always water at dusk when the evening winds come up and the temperature has cooled off.

With sun you can experiment and see if any of them have a higher tolerance for sunlight than others too. My 'Pink Lemonade' was in a sunnier spot than any of my other sempervivums and not only looked great all summer but even started leaning a bit towards the sunlight, and according to Mountain Crest Gardens it doesn't like sun as much as other ones do 'Hart 8' is another one that is sun hungry here.

Paul, you are right. There's not a set tolerance of sun for semps in general. I notice within the same pot some semps reaching for the sun and started to elongate while others in the pot look fine rosette shape-wise. I don't mention names as these semps all are without ID so I try to notice what type they are. For example are they fuzzy or webby or smooth, do they vary in color intensity given the lack of light? I've been trying to observe which respond better to lack of sunlite on my balcony so that I can concentrate on raising those.

I can see it's going to be a lot of watching and learning. Thanks, Paul and Bev. I'm finding them to be fascinating. I've been checking them out daily and they seem to change daily. I had so many that were plain green when I got them, and now they all look different.

We're having horrible winds. We had gusts to 60mph. It's impossible to do anything outdoors right now. I may be potting up things inside tomorrow. I have a lot of new plants to get potted up.

My 'Temby' is lightening up a bit. Here's an April 22nd picture compared with today.