Sempervivum Butterscotch Baby

Sempervivum 'Butterscotch Baby' (Chick Charms series) is a botanical treasure for rock gardens, flower pots, gravel areas, and any place where there is almost no soil. Its particularly wide rosettes display a rich palette of pink to purple tones on a variable green background throughout the months. The 'Chick Charms' houseleeks are low-maintenance perennials that you will want to collect!

All houseleeks grow spontaneously in rocky meadows, on rocks and scree, in open and sunny locations, mainly in mountainous areas. They are hardy succulent perennials from the Crassulaceae family that retain their foliage even in winter. The 'Chick Charm' Sempervivum series consists of hybrids carefully selected in the U.S.A by Chris Hansen in Michigan for their unusual colours and ease of cultivation: they are hardy and resistant to root rot. They do not mind hot and dry summers.

The 'Butterscotch Baby' houseleek has thick, long roots that penetrate deeply into the crevices of rocks, ensuring good attachment to the walls while drawing water from deep below. Over time, the plant forms colonies of rosettes of different sizes, juxtaposed, reaching 8-10 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter at maturity for the largest ones. This houseleek can form a dense carpet using its stoloniferous stems, spreading up to 30-40 cm on the ground, perfectly adapting to the landscape. Each rosette resembles an artichoke composed of numerous fleshy, pointed leaves without petioles. Their colour changes with the season and climatic conditions, with shades of pink, reddish, and purple developing towards the tips of the leaves, while the base transitions from green to grey-green. Flowering occurs on rosettes that are 2 or 3 years old, which will then disappear after the production of numerous small rosettes on the periphery. The fluffy flower, 15-18 cm tall flower stalks develop from June to August, formed by thick stems that bear 1 to 8 star-shaped flowers with 8-12 petals in shades of purplish pink.

Sempervivum 'Chick Charms' thrives where few species survive, colonising rocky and neglected spaces. If your soil is poor, dry, stony, rocky, or even slightly chalky, you can enjoy this cold-resistant perennial that requires no maintenance. The houseleek excels at bringing any pile of stones, a wall, or even a green roof to life. Chick Charms houseleeks are very easy-to-care-for succulent plants, offering flowers and foliage in various shades that allow for stunning compositions. They are magnificent in pots, especially in shallow containers, and are irreplaceable in borders, troughs, or rock gardens. To accompany them, consider perennials with staggered flowering and colourful foliage: hardy Delospermas, small sedums, Tanacetum densum subsp. amanii, for a variegated and joyful rock garden.