Sempervivum Chic Charms Grape Galaxy® - Houseleek

Sempervivum Chick Charms® 'Grape Galaxy' is a true gem for lovers of rock gardens and architectural, stylised settings. This variety of houseleek stands out with its unusual colours, where silvery grey blends with purple of varying intensity. Able to thrive where few other plants can grow, it develops large rosettes with a geometric silhouette in most well-drained soils, even poor and shallow ones. It also enjoys growing in pots, enhancing balconies and terraces. Completely unfazed by cold, this sun-lover tolerates drought very well.

Sempervivum, also called houseleek, belongs to the large Crassulaceae family. This family includes many succulents adapted to dry and poor conditions. Sedum (or stonecrop), widely used in the garden and in extreme conditions such as green roofs, is very well known; other genera are more niche, like Cotyledon from South Africa. Native to Europe and Asia Minor, the Sempervivum genus includes about forty species that are particularly robust and resistant to both cold and drought. Their diversity and ease of cultivation have given rise to nearly 4,000 varieties, of natural origin or from the work of passionate horticulturists. Among these creations, the Chick Charms series by American Chris Hansen (Michigan) stands out for its large rosettes with original hues and for easy cultivation, notably thanks to a relative tolerance to soil moisture.
Sempervivum Grape Galaxy charms with its elegant rosettes, with near-perfect geometry. The perfect arrangement of succulent leaves forms a rosette with a bold design. Spatulate at the centre and abruptly ending in a non-prickly tip, the leaves gradually lengthen as they approach the periphery, where they are 5 to 7 cm long. At maturity, the rosette reaches 7 to 8 cm in height and 12 to 15 cm in diameter. Bordered with tiny white hairs, the fleshy leaf blade goes through different colours during its development. In spring, young leaves emerge in an olive-green tone at the centre of the rosette, before turning to a very original metallic grey, while the tip colours purple. Depending on sunlight, purple may become dominant during the season, enhanced by the border of white hairs which forms a subtle and graceful contrast. This houseleek remains highly decorative, whether grown directly in open ground or in a pot, tolerating container cultivation very well. Over time, the main rosette produces lateral offsets that gradually spread into a carpet. These young shoots can also be taken for new plantings. In summer, usually on older rosettes, a flowering stalk bearing small pink flowers may develop. When it withers, the rosette dies, but its axillary offsets take over.

With exemplary hardiness, the Grape Galaxy houseleek easily establishes itself in poor, stony or shallow soils. Its geometric silhouette makes it an ideal choice for a sunny rock garden. To create a beautiful symphony of colours, it can be paired with a Sedum reflexum 'Angelina', whose changing foliage varies from chartreuse green to orange-bronze, while its yellow flowers bloom in summer. At the bottom of your rock garden, where the soil will be a little moister, plant a few Lewisia, a small perennial with brilliant spring flowers. Forming dense and highly ornamental carpets, the different varieties of Thyme will also be perfectly at home in your scene.