Now here’s a special photo of hens & chicks. KS’ mum grows them at her place a couple of km away from ours. In summer the roosters came to visit her flock too. Then they bloomed!!
photo by E C Jewsbury
Aren’t they pretty? I’m so glad to see what their true potential is.
Unfortunately deer came to dinner soon after…. no more blooms. At least the hens & chicks ‘coexist’ with deer. Not so much for the Roosters. Pity.
Yes, I said it. “Hens & Chicks get along fine with Deer. ” I said. “They co-exists.” I said. Well that was a cocky thing to say. I’m sorry. I spoke too soon.
photo by SVSeekins
CF called me up this evening to invite me to see her flock after today’s visit from a deer…. Doesn’t that just make you FLINCH ?
As it turns out, when the Roosters fully develop they flower on top. Who knew? Those on our mountain never seem to get that far.
photo by SVSeekins
It’s nice to see a few blooms left on CF’s plants. Isn’t it amazing how carefully the deer can select a bloom, but leave the adjacent buds for another day? How do they do that?
It’s a good thing that hens & chicks can propagate (via off-sets) without the roosters going to seed. Even so, these poor roosters… isn’t it a kick in the balls?
There’s something very alien yet oddly appealing about hens & chicks.
Is it because they cluster together in such a tight & tidy clump?
Is it because their turgid leaves are so different from the regular ones?
Or maybe because they choose the most inhospitable places to bring up their broods? Check out them partying it up in these rocky crevices !! Isn’t that the true meaning of ‘drought-tolerant’? & ‘well-drained” !?!
photo by SVSeekins
I’ve admired sempervivum for ages. To start, I tried to grow some myself but over-cared for them to death. (some succulents are tricky that way – – although I have a pretty good history with jade plants).
Several flocks were already established on the rocky mountainside when we moved to the Richmond house. I can just let them completely alone & they happily do their thing. They prefer being ignored. So I ignore them.
photo by SVSeekins
The deer seem to ignore them too – – or at least they must ignore them enough that the hens & the deer coexist comfortably.
Occasionally I’ll stumble over a mat of the little guys, which gives them a good squish, but they seem to recover & carry on. If any of the chicks are knocked loose, they just seem to roll down the hill & set up another colony wherever they land. Cool.
They even carry on after being covered by snow, which we occasionally get here on the west coast. I like a plant that just keeps on surviving. 🙂
Can it get any better:
– evergreen
– funky looking
– deer resistant
– drought tolerant
Oh yeah – – check out the hens & chicks when the roosters come to visit !!
Garden Variety Life 