The Hearty Little Hen

I think this is a Blue Rose Echeveria succulent but if you have other ideas, please let me know.

This is the pretty little wrist corsage that I wore to my darling daughter's wedding in September, 2012.

It laid on the table in my bedroom for about a month after the big day. Had it been a standard flower corsage, I might have pressed it, and dried it, to keep it forever. But, it was a pudgy little succulent. A rubbery rose, if you will. And, I didn't know what to do with it.

Until... I noticed how she was trying ever so hard to survive.

The corsage had laid on that table for a whole month without any type of moisture, yet only the tips of the leaves were turning brown. It still looked very much alive.

So, I thought... what the heck, let's experiment with this little cutie. Mid-November I put her in a dish with a teensy bit of cactus soil and filled the dish with water. Just to see what would happen...

Look close! My hearty little hen has given birth to two chicks!

She was in desperate need of a drink. The water disappeared very quickly. Days later, the brown disappeared from her leaves. So, I transplanted it. The little one promptly died. But, the big gal made a fantastic comeback! She's twice as large as she was when the florist had turned her into a corsage. And! She's gifted me with 2 little chicks. Pretty cool, don't you think?

* This group of succulents is called Hens and Chicks because the large plant, the Hen, produces numerous offspring, called the Chicks. Those will produce their own offspring during the next growing season. Most varieties do well in your garden. Some are cold hardy to zone 4.

 

Follow @Kate_HAGardens