Orostachys species

[Diane Clement]

Kristl writes that  the rosettes do die after flowering and that they take about  3 to 4 years to reach flowering sixe. Which species is yours, Diane?

Mine is O spinosa (sometimes called Sedum spinosum).  John's, Martin's and mine are the same, could be clonal as possibly from the same source.   

[David Shaw]

For interest this is the current state of one of our Orostachys spinosum. I will try to remember a follow up picture later. This plant has spent its whole life under glass but we have one outdoors in the crevise bed that survived last winter.

[JohnnyD]

 I hope to spend a little more time soon on this topic but, in the meantime, see this:

http://www.ovrghs.ca/articles/Plants/Orostachys%20spinosa.htm

Wow!

JohnnyD

[cohan]

For interest this is the current state of one of our Orostachys spinosum. I will try to remember a follow up picture later. This plant has spent its whole life under glass but we have one outdoors in the crevise bed that survived last winter.

i've never heard mention in cactus and succulent circles of Orostachys being hard to flower, i have seen pics of whole bowls full of flower spikes...various species, though...
nor do i think they are generally as moisture shy as some Rosularia(some of those are not rosularia anymore)..but no doubt depends on species...

[Lori S.]

Here is the same plant, showing the difference between the beginning of August and mid-October.

[Maggi Young]

Gracious, it is scarcely recognisable for the same being, Lori!

[olegKon]

Here is my orostachis spinosa flowering last July in the rockery. It does flower periodically when one of the rosettes is big enough and offsets are not numerous. I have still another clump(let) which produses a lot of offsets of smaller size which never rich the flowerting size

[Kristl Walek]

Sorry I missed seeing this topic earlier....Lori, I would have said right away that your first post was in fact O. spinosa---without sufficient exposure to the elements (heat & sun) or lack of maturity.

I've had some of my clones do what yours did (too much shade, moisture, etc).

Even once they assume their proper shape, they will stay more on the greenish side if they do not have enough baking (and enough of a cold winter). Since global warming my plants do not get as silver anymore as they used to in the days of -45C winters.

Once you have enough plants in the garden, there is good flowering most years of the plants that have reached their 3-4 year stage---that is---if they are not rushed to grow up too fast by pampered conditions---in which case, they flower faster. And once they flower, they are exactly like semps. The mother dies---and the ring of babies (see picture) is left to continue. Perhaps I had very happy mothers, because they usually produced *a lot* of offsets.

For my nursery, I would steal the babies, line them up in flats--and easily have a few hundred new (young) clones coming along every year. If I deprived the non-yet-flowering sized mother of her babies, she would invariable rush to flower prematurely.

It's a fantastic plant---extremely hardy---and I am curious how it will fare in my warmer and wetter climate of Nova Scotia.

I realize I have posted some of the same pictures here as in my article that JohnnyD linked, but I am sure you won't mind seeing them again.

[Kristl Walek]

I just went out to my new garden here---and this is how my transported babies are looking today after a very stressful 6 months in pots, in trucks, in limbo and finally a few weeks ago, in the ground.

And a flat of offsets just put in the plunge bed this morning.

They look sad, but I know they are tough plants, so am optimistic about next spring.

[Martinr]

Kristl, it will be interesting to see how they cope with a wetter climate. I have to bring my plants under cover for the winter, they definitely don't like our wet, mild winters with occasional frosts.

[Ragged Robin]

Best of luck Kristi with your babies...... this plant is definitely one I will look for with that gorgeous rosette and sensational towering flower stem! Sedums grow well here 

[cohan]

great plants, kristl..i have some seed to start this winter, have never grown it yet;
 have you found any other species hardy? were the extra silver forms a diff form, or just situational?

[Kristl Walek]

Hardy succulents are indeed among my favorites...and here are a few of the other Orostachys.

I grew out a number of plants from seed originally received as various permutations of O. spinosa (var. minima, minuta, etc), which I later decided were O. thyrsifolia, although I am still not 100% on the chosen name. I do not believe minima or minuta are accepted varieties of O. spinosa, although many are floating around the marketplace under those names.

And some others---these were all perfectly hardy in the Ottawa Valley at temperatures not dissimilar to yours, Cohan, but often without the snow cover. How they will do here in much milder Annapolis Royal, only time will tell.

[Kristl Walek]

a few more...

[cohan]

these are all killer, kristl! i will need to watch for seed of these available!
 i have seen several of these species (online etc) before, but these are some of the nicest examples--i think some of these may look best in cold places? certainly i dont recall seeing those colours on iwarenge, of course, could just be my memory...
i had a friend in coastal delaware (z8?) who grew some very nice orostachys, though i think he may have pulled a lot of them into the greenhouse over winter... he had nice growth and flowers, but i dont remember much other than green; another in san diego has some, which are definitely too green for my taste...