I remember watching The Home and Garden channel when It was some times about gardening. There was a visit to Crazy Ed's place in Ohio. He grew and hybridized sempervivums. I tried to visit him but couldn't get thru. I tried again and found out he passed away. Any way if any one knew him, I would like to hear some stories about him. I under stand he was quite a colorful character. Any way this is a good subject while we can't garden out side right now. I lost the recording I had of that show. In fact, I lost all the recordings I had of the places of interest they used to show. Now the garden channel has nothing about plants only yuppies buying million dollar homes.
Stush

Great topic Stanley. Sure wish I could have met him.
Sad isn't it that we do get those interesting programs anymore.

Anyway I started doing a search on him. So far this is what I have found.

Ed Skrocki of Southington, Ohio, is a collector. Among his collections of Packard automobiles, matchbook covers and hearses are his hens-and-chicks and other members of Sempervivum. In 1960 Ed got hooked on these plants and now has more than 2,000 different varieties from all parts of the world. He sells them to local nurseries and delivers them in his hearses.

Edward L. Skrocki, 79, of Southington, died Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Allen Dale Assisted Living in Newton Falls. He was born August 19, 1930 in Cleveland, the son of Frank A. and Mary M. (Solinsky) Skrocki, and had lived in Trumbull County since 1979, coming from Hinckley, Ohio.

Self-employed as a nurseryman, Mr. Skrocki was known internationally as a hybridizer of Sempervivums, and belonged to the Hosta Society and the Sedum Society of England. He also sold Packard automobiles at one time and belonged to the Packard Automobile Club (PAC), Packard International Club (PIC), the Cadillac Club, and the Professional Car Society.

Surviving are his sister, Doris Skok of Macungie, Pa.; two nieces: Sherri (Ray) Oliveras and Suzann (Joe) Brogan; two nephews: David (Nancy) and Dan Skok; and countless loyal friends. His parents precede him in death.

Friends may call 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Friday, April 2, 2010 at McFarland & Son Funeral Home. Interment will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 3, 2010 at Southington Township Cemetery.

Arrangements are entrusted to McFarland & Son Funeral Home, 271 N. Park Ave., Warren, Ohio 44481. Please visit www.mcfarlandfuneral.com to view this obituary and send condolences.


http://www.paghat.com/sempervi...

http://blog.plantdelights.com/... Go half way down the page.

Thank you so much Lyn. I thought that maybe some one personally knew him since he was so much into our hobby of Sempervivum. I lived so close and so sorry I never got to go over and visit his nursery. When I tried to several years ago, he wasn't receiving guest. Then I found out he died.

Stanley I want to thank you for starting this thread. It is a great way to learn more about the people that hybridize the sempervivum we love so much. Let's see how much more we can find out about him and the list of semps he hybridized. Anyone know of such a list?

Here is a bit more info on Ed SKrocki.

Cultivars from 1970 to 1993

Edward Skrocki received many awards for its cultivars including Ohio Burgundy - Award of Merit and a Bronze Medal.

Other award-winning varieties are: Spirit of 76, Collage, Packardian, Olivette, and Spanish Dancer.

Thanks Stanley for bringing up such an interesting topic. I did a search to find the video footage of the HGTV segment. No luck. Maybe it is on YouTube ?

I wonder who took over his plant collections?

So far I haven't found any mention of the collection.
I wonder if Gramps might know?

I thought I would tell you all a sad story. My friend bought a house that was owned by a plant lover. The whole yard had flowers everywhere and hostas from the neighborhood. He informed us to take anything we wanted and the next day the lawn mower gets the rest. He wanted a plane grass yard with no trees, hostas, flowers ect. I just hope the same didn't happen to Ed's collection.

Oh Stanley, that really is a sad story. I still haven't found anything about his collection. : (

The Journal of the Sempervivum Society, available online, might be a good place to look for more information. They were active during the time that Ed was younger and might have something.

Jack Broxholme had a few funny stories about Ed, I'll ask him if it's okay to share. As for the collection, there are a few of Eds varieties in amongst Jacks (that he has sent to me to carry on) but I would have to do more research because some that purported to be certain varieties have turned out to be misnamed.

I would love to hear them Jacki. I know Ed was said to be quite a character.

Me too Jacki! These semp hybridizers/collectors fascinate me!!

I talked to Jack today, and he reminded me of a story he told me a while ago about Ed; Jack lives in Burlington, Ontario, so it's more than just a day trip to go to Ohio, so Ed invited Jack to stay overnight. Jack was a little taken aback when Ed showed him where he would sleep; the bed was one that Ed had bought from the estate of Mr. Packard, the owner of the car company; as an indication of how fondly he thought of the car, he named one of his famous cultivars 'Packardian' after it. I remember seeing a picture of Ed, leaning nonchalantly against a car which probably was a Packard.

Another story that Jack told me, and I can't remember if I stored it somewhere in the archives was about Ed owning (and very proud of) a hearse, which he used to deliver his plants in.

Here is a pdf file that has more details about Ed Skrocki and Helen Payne, another great Semp breeder: http://www.drought-smart-plant...

(I'm having trouble uploading this, so if it doesn't work immediately, give it a while and try again)

Jacki, it's not working. I would love to read it. Can you try again?

I'd like to read it also! I will search the site though and see if I can figure it out

Okay, it's fixed - I had low bandwidth, on dial up and then of course, it put all the capital letters into lower case...

Thanks Jacki! Great articles!!

Thank you Jacki.
I will have to read it when I get back home, later this evening.

Also thank you Jack. Sorry I didn't meet Ed. I lived so close in Pittsburgh but by the time I knew about him, He wasn't receiving new friends.
Stush