This is my Green Wheel succulent sitting on the counter of our 5th wheel trailer. We took it with us on a recent trip, to add some color and hominess. I love the apple green rosettes. It’s a slow growing succulent, and prefers to be outdoors, unlike my Zebra Cactus.  This is one of a fairly large family of succulents commonly known as Hen and Chicks. The Green Wheel does well in containers and rock gardens, producing spikes of pale pink flowers in summer. It naturally forms mounds 4 to 6 inches high, and spreads up to 12 inches rapidly because of the offsets. Amazingly they can live in very cold and very hot climates. Zones 4 to 8. Once the plant is well established, it need only be watered occasionally as they tolerate drought quite well.

Above is a closer look at the rosettes. I was interested to learn that their origin is Morocco, Iran, and the Swiss Alps. My hen, is quite young, and as of now hasn’t produced offsets ‘chicks’. It will be fun to watch this happen. I am a collector by nature, and the more I learn about Sempervivum ‘Hen and Chicks’ the more I can see a new collection starting in my succulent garden. I’ll be sure to share any new additions with you.