When Sempervivums (Hens and Chicks) Flower

It's a rare treat to see Sempervivums flower. When they do, unfortunately, the plant that flowers (the parent plant) - dies.

To show the progression of flowering, I've photographed this plant over a period of two months.

I have four different cultivars of Sempervivums in this container. I use it as a decorative planter for our patio table. It's been doing so well. I've taken many baby plants from it already and placed them in our garden and also given some away.

Early July - 3 flower stalks full with buds began their ascension upwards.

 Flower buds tightly packed in. They are so incredible. Beautiful design.

Each bud reveals a lovely star shaped flower. Pollinators love them!

Two weeks later, they keep opening and ascending further.

Each flower lasts a long time.

Two more weeks later and they are still blooming!

Another two weeks later and you begin to see the flower stalk begin to fade and rot from the base.

I removed some of the rotted leaves from the base - so you can see what's happening. You'll see a ton of roots and stems, with little "chicks" still attached.

You could keep this flower stock going for as long as you'd like, but given this is on my patio table and because it's mid-August, I decided to take action and remove the parent plant so that I can deal with the empty spot. I want the warm months to help make sure this gap is filled so that it's good going into the winter.

It came free rather easily - few roots still attached. My trowel sliced through and the stock came away.

At the base, examine and look for baby "chicks" attached. Save these!

Tidy up the area and get rid of rotted leaves. Leaving these may cause further rot on little plants. We want to preserve as many as possible.

 Take the little "chicks" and cut back some of the stem so that it can lay down and begin to set those roots. Arrange with some gaps between.

You don't have to plant them, but laying them firmly on top, will do.

Some will produce better roots by just laying on top of the soil. I've laid three "chicks" on their sides, to use in my rock garden. They will send out more roots on the side and then I can transplant them elsewhere.

Ready to start the process all over again.

Pretty simple.

One trick with Hens and Chicks - removed decayed base leaves. It helps prevent plants rotting at the base. This summer has been quite wet with regular rain. I just find: when you remove these leaves regularly, the plant-lets remain happy and set roots faster.

Enjoy!

Fragaria (Strawberry) Stolons (Runners)

For folks who know little about plant propagation or the way some plants reproduce, here is one way strawberries can produce mini plantlets that are clones from the parent plant.

Off to its side is a baby strawberry plant which has started to situate itself  about 8 inches away from the original plant.

Long tendril like stems called stolons emerge from the base of the parent plant and meander over the surface of the soil (or rocks) looking for a place to grow on its own. First by starting to produce a leaf at a joint, a fair enough distance from the parent plant.

Remove any smaller babies and long stolon stems. They will just take energy away from the plant you want to establish.

If you look carefully at this joint (node) you'll see tiny roots pointing downward to the soil surface. This is the start of a whole new plant - attached by an "umbilical" cord of sorts.

There are two ways you can establish the new plant. 1) Just allowing the plant to find its own way and rooting itself, leaving it until next season.

Or...

2) Cutting it from the parent plant right now, once more than one leaf is present and planting it in an ideal location for the rest of its life. If you want to advance the growing, plant it into a container for a couple of weeks to get a better root mass before planting it out in the garden.

Here, I just situated the baby plant in a location free of competition; it has good light and ample space to flourish.

You can even grow strawberries in containers and let the stolons droop over the container, making a hanging basket. Unfortunately, the stolon plants won't produce any strawberries this season.

Perhaps you are familiar with the common house plant called: Spider Plant Chlorophytum comosum.  This same principal can be applied to this plant as well. Their stolons are just the same as the strawberry.

NOTE: Two aspects of stolons that are negative: 1) they do remove essential energy from the parent plant; 2) you get plants establishing everywhere.

When you see stolons and flowers on the strawberry plant, much of the plant's energy will go to the stolon and not the fruit if they are left to themselves. If you've ever gone strawberry picking as I have, you'll notice many of the strawberry plants have had their stolons removed for this purpose. Nothing is better than having sweet, juicy strawberries. Keep some of the stolons for next year's crop, but do remove the rest of them throughout the harvest season.