Hardy Hens & Chicks?

Hello!

I discovered Hens & Chicks growing in my yard (just recently bought a house) which really surprised me because I'm in zone 6 and I thought they were only hardy to zone 8.

Is there a type of winter-hardy hens & chicks, or is this just some weird fluke?

Hi :) Hens and chicks, the regular kind, Sempervirens, are very hardy. They grow all the way up through zone 4. I have some that aren't even in soil -- I stuck some clay soil atop a tree stump and decorated them with the hens a few years ago -- they continue to thrive and multiply.

There are a lot of other plants that look like hens and chicks that may or may not be as hardy, but real semps are troopers!

The only thing mine cannot survive is when squirrels bowl with them. At least that is what it looks like -- they roll them all over the yard before the roots have gotten deep down. Poor things lose leaves and just fade away after a few weeks.

I thought that they were European forest mountain plants, so hardy. I thought that I read somewhere that they can even survive under snow. I would put a layer of pine needles on top however. They sure don't like the hot weather. Norma

I have some, as did my mother, in zone 5 and they withstand snow, sleet, ice and -20 degrees F temps! Quite hardy, thank goodnes!

We have them growing in Saskatchewan...saw them up in
zone 2. They have survived winters where the temps can
get to -60F as long as they have a bit of snow cover.

This message was edited Friday, Sep 5th 1:14 PM

In the wild seen them grow up and above 2500 Meters elevation on mountains so they are very hardy.

They grow here in Seward, Alaska. We are zone 3.

Weezingreens, you've got mail

I have quite a few different sempers growing in 4b and survive cold and snow with no problem

I found this neatest placed to get Semps, and other cold hardy plants, email me if interested. I don't know if I'm allowed to post it here. Norma

I had them survive the coldest winter we've had in years here in MA. what looks like the bowling is things digging them up to get insects or whatever underneath. The skunks do that here. They don't eat them, just move them all around. I stick them back in and off they go again. I have also had luck growing them in shallow terracotta pots though they have to be out of the wind for them to last through the winter. I did lose some fairly small ones this winter, but the vast majority survived.
Here is a picture of Henzilla which I just bought this spring. The guy said he thought that some grass fertilizer had spilled over into the bed and that's why it's so large. That's my 19 year old son's hand, for reference.

Sometimes other less hardy species are mistaken for sempervivum, like aeoniums.

I had one like the one just above that grew to about 10' across, then one day it just died! I think Roly Polys got it, or it got too wet and rotted.

Henzilla is planted on our sunny hillside. Good drainage and if the skunk leaves it alone, prognosis is good. It also came with about 5-6 chickens, as well. Maybe they will all take.

I have grown succulents (mainly Haworthias and Euphorbias) in the house under fluorescent lights for years and had grown Semp. 'Oddity' in the house for a long time. I was so surprised to find out that this plant is perfectly hardy here in zone 4a, Minneapolis, MN, -30°F to -20°F. I was just floored.

I say, if you have more than one, try it outside. You never know unless you try...
Mike

Is 100F-110F half day full sun too hot for hens & chicks?
Mine are getting mushy.

Xeno... it killed mine.

What should I do? bring them inside the Cooool 82F house?
They told me hens & chicks liked to live between the Hot rocks....they didn't say How Hot.

We get very hot here, I protect mine from the sun. The tree next door does this for me. They cannot tolerate my hot sun, and must be shaded. I just love them, they have such pretty colors. Be sure to keep them very clean underneath, removing the skirt of dead leaves from underneath.
Repot yearly, they love the fresh soil, putting down new roots quickly. I do this about Nov. 1 each climate will do it in a different month. They love cool climates.
Sun will cause them to flower early, then they die, but not before putting out new offsets. Norma

OK, thanks Crasulady2.
I guess i take them inside by the window.
It's 107 here in the shade.