Perhaps no other class of house plant needs so little care or, plainly speaking, endures so much neglect as the big family called succulents.
Some of this family’s most dependable and attractive members are the echeverias. There are more than eighty species and many hybrids, and their attractive rosettes vary in size, form, coloring, and leaf texture.
Native Echeverias in Mexico
Since echeverias are native to Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America, we can be sure that a sunny, warm window suits them best.
Given this spot in the sun with their roots in rich, loose, well-drained soil containing some sand, they will surprise you with their beauty and their blooms.
If the containers are not too small, a good soaking once a week usually will suffice to keep them happy.
Their ability to store moisture in stems and leaves helps them endure irregular or insufficient watering.
Collection Of Echeverias
Any collection of echeverias will bring surprises, and it is hard to pick favorites. But here are a few tried-and-true varieties with which to start a collection:
- E. hoveyi is dainty and colorful when well-grown. Its leaves are flat instead of fat, with a very decided pink tinge on each gray-green leaf.
- E. pulvinata is another beauty of a very different form. This is tree-like in growth, and each branch ends in a tight little rosette of gray-green leaves tipped with red. It is a good variety for an ornamental container.
- E. gilva reminds one of a water lily with its waxy, wide-open, yellow-green leaves. These are tinted pink in full sun. One is tempted to touch it to see if it is alive or an artificial wax plant.
- Try E. carnicolor for an echeveria that has a texture different from all the others. Its dark green leaves seem to glisten as though frosted. The plant sends forth runners tipped with rosettes, and it is admirably suited for growth in a bracket or wall pocket.
- E. amoena, or baby echeveria, is small, as its name implies. The tiny green leaves on long drooping stems drop at the slightest touch and root easily wherever they fall, so you soon have new families of babies. This one seems to thrive best in part shade.
- E. elegans is one of the strongest growth and one of the nicest varieties. The white rosettes are packed snugly together, and new offsets soon form, making a beautiful plant. The flowers, which are borne on a long stem, are orange in a green calyx.
44659 by Ada B. Turner