Hen and Chickens

Hen and Chickens is a hardy passalong succulent that can be persuaded to grow in all sorts of odd places.   Mine are just the old-fashioned passalong ones, but they come in different colors and shapes.

The good thing about them is that they can be put in all sorts of containers or in a corner of a flower bed, be it sun or shade.  They stay outside all winter with no attention.


My efforts to plant them in tall strawberry jars from the garden center have not been very successful.

 Actually one of the jars broke in two. I used the bottom for a shallow hen and chicken holder.

 The bottomless top I buried and filled with hens and chicks.  They prosper more when buried a bit.   They will soon be totally full.

This is a good example of my lack of success with hens and chicks in a strawberry jar.

This ajuga just dropped in and I let it grow. There is a small fern growing on the other side.

Hen and Chickens

The succulents hen and chickens just seem to wander around.

Everyone seems to have gotten them from some one who got them from someone else.

If you have an old pot or kettle or empty corner of a flower bed, they will settle in.  They will spread the family around by forming little offsprings that can be readily transplanted to another old pot. 

They are winter hardy and very undemanding.  A very hot day summer may cause them to die back a bit, but they come back in good health in the fall.  The winter may slow them a bit but not forever.

The yellow pot would have been better off with a little sealer, but it is ok.  I got it from my mother's old house.

Incidentally, be sure there is a hole in the bottom of the pot so they won't drown.

Hen and chickens do well in the corner of a flower bed.  In fact, I sometimes have to raid a flower bed to fill an empty spot in a pot.