Hens and chicks are succulents that belong to the Crassulaceae plant family. They are also known by the name of "houseleeks". Hens and chicks are native to Europe and North Africa but can easily be grown in zones 3 to 11. They like full sun but will tolerate some shade especially in the south's hot afternoon sun. They do not like to be consistently moist and will begin to rot from the outside in if given that condition to live in. They are therefor very drought tolerant and make a good ground cover for a dry sunny location or rock garden.
Hens and chicks come in several different colors, lime green, burgundy and purple. Their leaves can be thin and spiky or thick and rounded with a pointed tip. They are as small as 1cm (.39 inches) or as large as 20cm (7.87 inches). "Cobweb Houseleek" has fine spider like web filaments that grow from leaf edge to leaf edge, forming a white cover on the top of the plant.
The "mother" hen is a single rosette with small chicks or offsets growing from her edges. To propagate simply remove one of the offsets, and place it in the soil making sure it makes good soil contact. That easy!
The mother hen will reach maturity at 3 or 4 years old. At that time a single stalk will grow from the center and form a head. The stalk will be about 2 to 10 inches tall and the head will consist of a cluster of star shaped flower buds. It will flower for several weeks and will be dark pink to yellow. Yep you guessed it, it will die after that. But it will have left many "chicks" to keep the family name going!
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