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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday


 There are some plants in the garden that simply defy explanation.


The extra rain this summer has convinced the most xeric plant in my garden 


to sprout buds


and bloom.


Sempervivums, also known as hens and chicks, are easier to grow than a dandelion.
 

I think they look like space aliens.

53 comments:

  1. Those are some of my favorite plants :-) a lot of cactus have that same quality to them. Nice pictures.

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  2. Tammy, I think they look like the flowers in lovely garden. Nice vase you planted Sempervivums!
    Have a nice week!

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    1. More of the buds opened today and bloomed. They are so undemanding, I sometimes forget they have flowers, too.

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  3. I love that iron basket arrangement. Just the other day I was wondering why I don't grow more Sempervivums. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get my hands on some ASAP.

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    1. The iron basket is the top of a fruit basket that turned all my fruit black. I lined it with a coco coir mat, added some potting soil, and then stuck in the hens and chicks. That's it. I don't even bring them inside in the winter, although I do stick the metal basket inside an empty pot on the patio for a bit of protection.

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  4. Very cool buds. I've got some in a pot too but am waiting for buds to show up. Is it true that the main one dies after it flowers, but the offspring survive? Or am I confusing it with something else?

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    1. I have no idea! I started growing them 2 years ago and this is the first time they've ever bloomed. I didn't even think they had flowers.

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  5. I have some in flower now too. My blooms are pink. I am amazed at how long the stem will grow before it looks like it will pull the plant out of the ground or planter.

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    1. They're a really cool plant. The plant stalks seriously look like alien heads to me. But that just makes me like them more.

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  6. They are strange beasts indeed ! Love them !

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  7. I have some in pots too. I don't like them so much but I have them ........and they are so easy.....

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    1. I was indifferent to sempervivums until I grew them and now I really enjoy them. I love how easy they are!

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  8. I have a lot of them, so easy to take care of, do nothing!

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    1. Sometimes I just need a plant that can take care of itself. :o)

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  9. I especially love these in containers so that you can appreciate the individual shapes more closely! Gorgeous!

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    1. I agree! If they were at ground level, I'd miss all the action and my dogs would pee on them. Not good!

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  10. They really do look like space aliens! It's amazing what even xeric plants will do with plenty of nourishment and rain.

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    1. It never occurred to me that the rain would motivate them to bloom. But perhaps it's the survival mechanism in the plant: seeds will sprout easier if the conditions are better.

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  11. I love these aliens ! I'm fan of all kind of rock garden plants, miniature plants are fascinating. Have a nice july in your garden !

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    1. I think miniature plants are easy to overlook but they are fascinating if we can see them up close. :o)

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  12. I have always thought they look like something from another planet and also like something you might find on a coral reef.

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    1. They remind me of a coral, too. I'm just thrilled they bloomed. :o)

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  13. With the close up shots you can really appreciate all the details. Very interesting!

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    1. They should come with a magnifying lens so I can really see the flowers. :o)

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  14. I love these little plants, but for some reason I don't have any in my garden. I've often picked these up, but I always put them back down. Maybe I'll keep them in my basket next time! Interesting that they don't mind the extra rain.

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    1. They are the easiest plant on the planet to take care of. I used to think they were underwhelming but now that I have them I think they're pretty cool. :o)

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  15. I have had these for decades, and they have never flowered! I think maybe yours are actually alien ones...

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    1. They've never flowered? That's pretty weird! Maybe mine are aliens!

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  16. Space aliens is a good name for them! I haven't got any myself but I have seen them in garden centres and on other people's blogs. Maybe it's time to create small corner for some rocky plants, they would do well in my garden I think.

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    1. I think anything would do well in your garden! :o)

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  17. Isn't there a character who looks like that on "Battlestar Galactica"?

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    1. I have no idea! But they do look like they're right out of a science fiction movie. :o)

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  18. Very cool. I'm not sure when you added us to your prayer list but please, keep it up! I've had over 5" since Monday! My garden is happy, happy. Sadly, I also heard that we will need 100x what we've received to fill Lake Travis to normal (681).

    Love the blooms you're seeing on your hens and chicks. They look super healthy. Somehow I manage to kill more succulents than not. I keep trying though. I think I love them to death :)

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    1. Hooray for rain!! I've loved lots of plants to death, too. :o) I'm also excellent at putting the wrong plant in the wrong spot. I have quite the skill set. :o)

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  19. Something is wrong with me...the easiest plants to grow always produce challenges for me. I have hen & chicks that have been in my garden for two years now and are just now producing chicks! :)

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    1. Maybe your soil is too lush and fabulous for them. They like conditions that are lean and mean. They laugh at fertilizer and scoff at the comforts our other plants love.

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  20. I agree they look alien especially when in bloom.

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    1. At least they won't try to eat my brains or take me back to their home planet. :o)

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  21. I have been planting hens and chicks. They are easy to grow, but here rather hard to find mind season. I blame that on Pinterest where such lovely succulent gardens are shown. They are easy to grow and, yes, through your lens, a bit weird looking, sometimes. Love you photos.

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    1. Sometimes a little bit of weirdness is just what we need. :o)

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  22. Really cool space aliens though. you know I have never ever grown these plants but every time I see pictures of them I think, gotta do that. Glad to hear they are easy to grow. that 'planter' looks like it's working out really great for you too (wasn't that a fruit basket or something?)

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    1. That container is fruit basket fabulous! All hens and chicks want is speedy fast drainage and full sun. It would be fun to cruise a thrift store to find cool things you could repurpose into containers for them. :o)

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  23. Of course they are space aliens Tammy. I thought everyone knew that. And, if you don't grow them, well, you are just out of touch, intergalactically speaking. (The ones in my garden get messages from the ones in YOUR garden.)

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    1. Usually if I want proof of space aliens, I head to WalMart. But this time they came to me. :o)I'm hoping the Mother Ship will take all the mosquitoes when it leaves.

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  24. Oh these are hysterical! I mean, the photos themselves are fabulous, but your added narration makes all the difference. Teeth and spiky appendages, space aliens indeed! I just know my garden is plotting (pun intended) against me at night while I sleep, unsuspecting.

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    1. My roses plot and scheme and then impale me when I try to feed them. Pure evil in all that beauty. ;o) But the hens and chicks look like something out of a comic book or kids cartoon. I keep waiting for them to start babbling in cartoon voices.

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  25. Well, now that you've pointed it out - they do look like aliens! But cute, fuzzy, sweet ones :)

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  26. That is funny and I so agree. It is easy to grow the Hens and Chicks. They mass produce as well as a dandelion. Sometimes too well.

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  27. I love space alien plants. Unfortunately, my Hens and Chicks were overwatered by my zealous husband and turned to mush.

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  28. Hi Tammy, I like all my plants in the garden to say "feel me! touch me! smell me! I am beautiful", sempervivums don't do any of that, they're so strange and unusual that they upset my delicate sensibilities.

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