Our Sempervivum (Hens and Chicks)

Most of you (if you have been following my blog for awhile) know that George and I love succulents. Our Autumn Joy Sedum is one of our favorite succulents. BUT--even better than that is our Sempervivum. We have LOTS of Semps in our yard.

The name "Sempervivum" has its origin in the Latin semper ('always') and vivus ('living'). Sempervivum are called "Always Living" because this perennial plant keeps its leaves in winter and is very resistant to difficult conditions of growth.

These little succulents are also called Hens and Chicks. The main plant (hen) creates lots of babies (chicks). Typically, each plant (hen) grows for several years before flowering. After flowering, the plant dies, usually leaving many offsets (chicks) it has produced during its life. I think I read that there are over 40 different species of Semps.

I have done blog posts several times showing our Semps ---but since there are new people, I decided to show some again to you today. I hope you will enjoy my pictures!

Choose your colors!!!!! There are several choices.

This purple ones are so pretty in our yard.

They are all different colors and varieties. Some are large and some are small.

This picture is perfect to show you the chicks growing around the hen. See the little babies expanding from the Mom???

Semps love to grow in rock gardens...

The chicks will even grow on the rocks --since they are attached to the hen.

This Hen is blooming... She grew UP before blooming. After she blooms, she will die. As you can tell, each Semp is a little different from other ones.

Pretty little flowers on this one; Note how different this Semp is when she bloomed, when comparing her to the photo above this one.

I'll close with my favorite photo of our Semps.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the Sempervivum in our yard.

Happy April 1st. We are going to Hendersonville (TN) today to check on George's parents.

Hugs,

Greenbriar in the Smokies

When I surprised George with his birthday trip to the Serenity Falls Cabin in Cosby, TN in March, we spent part of a day at one of our favorite places in the Smokies, the Greenbriar area. We drive on a gravel road way back into the mountains ---following beside the Little Pigeon River.

After alot of rain, this river can be a 'wild and raging river'... There aren't any waterfalls per say ---but there are some beautiful cascades all along our way. Today, I will share some of our pictures in the Greenbriar area, using our new cameras!! Above is one of the beautiful cascades. Below are more!

Seems like we took a million pictures of EACH and EVERY cascade along our way!!!!! ha ha

Here is a picture of the Greenbriar area. I'm glad that they have pull-off areas along the way for people like us to get some pictures. In Summer, the locals use this area for swimming and kayaking. There is a picnic area not far from here also.

Here's another picture of the powerful water flowing over the rocks. Aren't the colors gorgeous?

George is standing on the bridge which leads to the Ramsey Cascades Hiking Trail (which is an 8 mile round-trip hike). Several creeks join up with the Little Pigeon River along our way. This is such a gorgeous area.

Finally, here is one more picture of the Little Pigeon River as it rushes over all of the rocks. I hope you have enjoyed these pictures---and IF you ever get to the Smokies, be sure and visit the Greenbriar area.

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We have some more color in our yard FINALLY this Spring. If you remember from last year, I talked about our favorite ground cover --which we have in several places throughout our yard. That ground cover is PERIWINKLE, and we love it. The tiny blue/purple flowers are beginning to bloom now and are just so pretty.

Have a great Wednesday.

Hugs,