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Sempervivus is an ideal plant for beginner gardeners or for those who constantly forget to water their flowers. It is called differently: young, hare cabbage, tenacious, but the name “stone rose” is most suitable for this elegant noble plant from the succulent family. Plump leaves, collected in a dense rosette, resemble the petals of a blooming rose, only they do not sit on a long stem, but directly on the surface of the earth. The Latin name translates as “eternally living”, which quite accurately characterizes the stamina and vitality of this beautiful plant.
Varieties and types
The stone rose is distributed almost throughout Europe (except for the north), in the Caucasus and in Asia Minor. About 50 species are known, each of which has dozens of varieties and hybrids, and it can be problematic to distinguish them from one another, they are not only similar to each other, but the same species may look different at different times of the year, growing in different conditions.
Several dozen species grow well in the conditions of the Middle Strip. The plant is devoid of a stem, fleshy leaves bare or pubescent with hairs form a rosette up to 15 cm in diameter.
They differ in the shape of the leaves and their color, it varies from very light or silvery green to very dark with red, brown, terracotta, golden rims or stripes.
In the forest-steppe, there is a stone rose, called , with large rosettes of green leaves and yellow flowers. Since the XNUMXth century, it has been cultivated as an ornamental plant for indoor and garden plantings.
The spherical-oblate rosette of the young roof grows from 7 to 15 cm in diameter. Green leaves with bronze or red-brown edges end in pointed tips. It blooms with red-pink small flowers. In the old days, Europeans planted it on roofs to strengthen them and protect them from thunderstorms, since they considered the god Thor himself to be the patron of this plant.
Caucasian rock rose blooms with lilac-red or purple flowers, it grows on stony soils, responds well to fertilizers with a high calcium content. Its leaves, usually green, darkening at the edges, end in fairly stiff cilia.
The green mountain juvenile with a medium-sized rosette blooms with red-pink flowers, and its close relative, the Brown hybrid, is distinguished by unexpected creamy-yellow petals of small flowers.
Dwarf or undersized juveniles are distinguished by pointed, ciliated leaves along the edges, slightly brownish on the outside. It has a small rosette – up to 2,5 cm in diameter, and lilac-red flowers with a distinct stripe in the center.
The marbled stone rose has uneven red-green leaf patterns that are fluffy when young but perfectly smooth as adults. By winter, many of them turn completely red. The petals are red, but with a spectacular light border around the edges.
The offspring juvenile grows very quickly, forming small spherical rosettes on sandy soil. It blooms with greenish or pale yellow flowers. Traditional medicine uses it to heal festering wounds and treat heart failure.
Of all the species cultivated in our country, the cobweb juvenile can always be distinguished from its other relatives – its small, no more than 4 cm in diameter, rosettes are almost completely entangled in silky cobwebs. To an uninitiated person, it may seem that the plant fell victim to a spider mite. This species does not tolerate cold winters in the garden, and blooms with purple flowers.
In the Caucasus and Turkey, a spherical species grows with oblong palmate leaves, the tops of which are painted red.
Video “Description”
From the video you will learn almost everything about this amazing flower.
Flowering time
Flowering time usually falls at the beginning or middle of summer, it depends not only on the type of plant, but also on weather and climatic conditions.
Sempervivus blooms once in a lifetime, after which the plant dies. In order for it to justify its name of the ever-living one, it must not be allowed to bloom. An adult plant, not earlier than the third year of life, ventures into this risky action, until this moment it will have time to give birth to a large number of offspring, and then forms a long (from 25 to 35 cm in different species) peduncle with medium-sized multi-colored flowers. The rosette is formed by basal leaves, and on the peduncle they become regular oblong or ovate. Bisexual flowers of various colors are collected in paniculate inflorescences with fleshy sepals fused at the base. If you do not remove the inflorescences, then leaflet fruits are formed, from 8 to 20 pieces in different species.
seating culture
The juvenile is often used in garden design, it is ideal for rock gardens and alpine slides, and planting and caring for it is so simple that it encourages experimentation. Home care also does not require time and effort, so it is grown in apartments, offices, where sempervivus fits wonderfully into any minimalist interior or high-tech style.
It is better to plant it on a flower garden in mid-May; time is not so important for an apartment. The plant needs very little soil, you don’t even have to prepare it in the right place, but simply pour 5 cm thick on top, moisten it, make a small hole, plant the plant, it’s better with a clod of earth in which it grew, gently press the ground around the roots with your fingers.
Since the plant does not require a lot of land, it is planted in the most incredible flower beds and in strange dishes – these can be shards or pots, teapots lying sideways. Old shoes and children’s toys are perfect for the original flower bed. It looks interestingly young on vertical walls, in multi-tiered stands.
Care
Care at home or in a flower bed is best expressed with the words “planted and forgotten.” If you choose the right place and prepare the soil, then you can really forget about this amazing plant. Excessive attention, which is usually expressed in watering, fertilizing, loosening the earth and other actions, can only harm the sempervivus.
Lighting
Young people love the sun.
In the shade, this amazing culture will also grow, justifying its Latin name, but the leaves will stretch and turn pale, the outlet will no longer be so elastic and spherical.
On the street, the flower needs to find an open place and make sure that nothing obscures it. All care can be reduced to the destruction of the weeds around it, over time this groundcover will grow so that the weeds will not have a single chance, but at first you need to make sure that the weeds do not form a shadow.
At home, it is advisable to choose a southern window sill for it, and for the summer to take it out to a balcony or loggia, preferably also from the south side.
Temperature conditions
Hare cabbage is not afraid of heat, feels great at temperatures above +30, and tolerates zero temperatures in the same way. In winter, in our area, you need to cover the plants with foliage or branches, throw sand or peat on top (in very cold winters). Some advise covering the plant with the cut off part of the plastic bottle, but this must be done carefully, because moisture can collect under it, and this is the only thing that can kill the tenacious.
Landing and care in the apartment may well take place on the balcony. The temperature in the house will suit the plant both in summer and in winter. It is completely indifferent to air humidity, it does not need to be sprayed, washed or wiped. In winter, it will tolerate the dry air of heated apartments well, and in summer it will be better to grow on a balcony at any temperature. Fresh oxygen-rich air is more important to him, so you can not be afraid to ventilate the room at any time of the year.
Watering
Sempervivus should be watered carefully so that water does not get on the leaves, only the ground needs to be moistened. They do this very rarely – in the cold season (home conditions) it is enough once a month or even less often, and in the summer heat you can water it after a week or two.
Excess moisture will lead to wilting and subsequent drying of the leaves. At the slightest sign, you need to transplant the plant into dry soil, although it does not like transplants, this is the only thing that can save it. Unless, of course, loosening the earth and moving the flower to the sun does not help.
Soil and top dressing
The soil should be non-acidic and loose, not retaining water, sandy or rocky, you can buy a mixture for cacti or just take one part of garden soil and add three parts of sand. When preparing a pot for rabbit cabbage, a third of it is filled with a drainage layer. There may be black soil on the flower bed, but 5 cm of sandy soil or the same mixture for cacti should be poured on top.
Feeding young plants is not worth it, an excess of nutrients will make them stretch and change color, the outlet will fall apart and lose its decorative effect. After reaching the age of three, flowers can be fed with a special mixture for cacti, but take half the indicated rate.
Transfer
Young people do not like transplants, so plants should be planted in a flower bed at a great distance from each other – at least 15 cm, which will soon be filled with young plants. At home, for the same reasons, you need to take a wide pot, so that later you do not disturb the roots with transplants. But if this needs to be done, then it is necessary to take a plant with a clod of earth, before watering it.
Reproduction
Reproduction occurs by seeds and vegetatively. The vegetative method of propagation is remarkable in that it occurs naturally and easily – many young shoots form very quickly around the plant, which grow from the mother plant with tendrils. These tendrils can be pressed to the ground with your fingers, but they will take root without this minimal intervention of the grower.
And the seeds are sown in the spring on the surface of sandy soil and sprinkled with the thinnest layer of sand, only 1 mm thick. Before this, the seeds should be soaked in water, then sown and wait. After 3 – 5 days at a temperature of +20 degrees, the first sprouts appear. After the formation of the roots, the plants can be planted in a permanent place – in a flower bed or in separate pots.
Pests and diseases
The tenacious is rarely bothered by pests. But May beetles can harm the flower bed, they can damage the plant by eating whole moves in the tender pulp. This rarely happens, but if the beetle damages the plant, you need to remove it, replant other plants, and decontaminate the soil from the larvae.
At home, potted plants can suffer from aphids and mealybugs. To prevent this from happening, you need to monitor all plants, do not put infected specimens in their company. And the drugs “Inta-vir” from aphids and “Aktelik” from the worm will help to fight them.
Of the diseases, the tenacious can suffer from all kinds of rot if it is waterlogged. At the slightest manifestation of the disease, transplanting to another soil will help. And the affected parts of the plant must be removed, the cut points should be treated with charcoal.
Sempervivus is a very decorative and completely unpretentious plant, which is easy to care for. It can decorate any interior, give originality to flower beds. Traditional medicine has long used almost all species to treat wounds and even purulent ulcers. Experts say that all species are edible, some summer residents use them to make salads, noting the sour taste of these succulent plants. In the wild, animals quench their thirst with them, the name “hare cabbage” has taken root for a reason, but we still consider it as decorative.
Video “Reproduction and care”
From the video you will learn how to properly propagate and care for a stone rose.
