Sempervivum Coconut Crystal® - Houseleek

Sempervivum Colorokz® 'Coconut Crystal' forms a pretty bicolour rosette, filled with glossy leaves of intense purplish red fading into cream or soft green tips. This houseleek is a little gem for rockeries, low walls, planters or green roofs. Ultra hardy, drought-tolerant and almost foolproof, it grows equally well in pots or in the ground with good drainage. Perfect in a rockery, it adds to succulent plant displays and requires very little maintenance. 

Sempervivum Colorockz® 'Coconut Crystal' belongs to the Crassulaceae family, a group of succulent plants that are cold-hardy. This houseleek cultivar is also known by the synonym Sempervivum 'Belsemmag1' and is part of the very hardy Colorockz® series, known for its bicolour rosette varieties which multiply rapidly into colonies. This variety was obtained by the Belgian company Belgicactus bvba and introduced to the market in the early 2020s. It is the result of breeding work from Sempervivum tectorum subsp. atlanticum, the Atlas houseleek, and other related species. It is a perennial plant with a ground-covering habit, with evergreen foliage, forming a compact rosette about 10 cm in diameter and 4 cm tall, comparable to an artichoke. Its growth is rather rapid, and it actively produces stolons that allow it to colonise its environment over time. The leaves are fleshy, spatulate and an intense purplish red, with tips coloured soft green or cream depending on the season. Flowering occurs from late spring to summer on mature rosettes. A flower stalk bearing small, pink to bright pink, star-shaped flowers emerges from the heart of the rosette. As with all Sempervivum, the rosette dies back after flowering. Its shallow root system is extremely sturdy and perfectly adapted to rocky or very well-draining substrates.

Houseleek Colorockz® ‘Coconut Crystal’ is proof that poor soil and a rocky setting can also host pretty specimens with vivid colours. This little plant enjoys full sun wherever the soil is shallow, where few plants survive. If your soil is poor, rocky, or rather dry, plant it between stones or on a green roof. Also, use it to create artistic displays in pots, especially in low pots like bonsai containers. Mix several varieties to create mosaics. These miniature perennials soon inspire a desire to collect and propagate them. Think about choosing companions such as creeping or carpeting sedums (Sedum album, Sedum spurium, Sedum oreganum), creeping thymes (Thymus praecox 'Purple Beauty') or even dwarf artemisias (Artemisia schmidtiana 'Nana'). In a pot, combine it with other houseleeks from the Colorockz® series for a variety of volumes and colours.