Echeveria explosion

Echeverias are among the most popular succulents, not only because they’re beautiful and easy to care for but also because they grow very quickly given enough heat and water. This post shows a few examples from my own collection.

These four echeverias have gotten large enough to fill this 10 inch bowl.

120821_four_echeverias

Top left: Echeveria pulidonis
Top right: Echeveria agavoides ‘Red Blush’
Bottom left: Echeveria agavoides ‘Lipstick’
Bottom right: Echeveria colorata

Just five months ago (!) they were this small:

120331_four_echeverias

Same plants, March 31, 2012

One of my favorite echeverias is this ‘Lady Aquarius’. It’s 12 inches across now and you cannot see the pot at all.

120818_Echeveria-Lady-Aquarius_04

Echeveria ‘Lady Aquarius’, August 21, 2012

This is what it looked like when I bought it last October. The color is noticeably bluer now.

111003_Echeveria-Lady-Aquarius

Echeveria ‘Lady Aquarius’, March 31, 2012

This lanky echeveria is ‘Purple Afterglow’. It’s 12 inches across but only 6 inches tall.

120821_Echeveria-Purple-Afterglow_02

Echeveria ‘Purple Afterglow’, August 21, 2012

Just five months ago it was a baby (on the right in the photo below).

120331_Echeveria-Purple-Afterglow

Echeveria ‘Purple Afterglow’, March 31, 2012

‘Purple Afterglow’ is very similar to Don Worth’s classic ‘Afterglow’, which I bought at a UC Davis Arboretum plant sale in March.

120310_UCDArboretum_66

Echeveria ‘Afterglow’, March 110, 2012

Now it’s turned into a fantastical tangle of flower stalks and leaves, 16 inches across and 20 inches tall.

120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_02

120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_08

120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_07

120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_03120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_04120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_11

120821_Echeveria-Afterglow_05

All of the above: Echeveria ‘Afterglow’, August 21, 2012

Looking at photos of ‘Afterglow’ and ‘Purple Afterglow’ on the web, I can see that they’re supposed to form large rosettes. Mine are clearly stretched (etiolated) although they get a few hours of sun in the morning and then another hour in the early afternoon. I will move them to a spot where they get at least a half day of sun to see if it will tighten things up. The other echeverias shown in this post get the same amount of light and don’t look etiolated at all. Go figure!

Comments

  1. Yes you have the E. afterglow. I think that the one with one with wider and larger rosettes is its' sister E. morning light. That's from what I can see on Schulz and Kapitany's Echeveria Cultivars Book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura, do you think the growth habit of my Afterglow is normal? Shouldn't the rosette be tighter?

      Delete
  2. Your echeverias are beautiful! They're some of my favorite succulents.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How do you get them to grow so quickly and so gorgeous?

    ReplyDelete
  4. A little late on the post but my Afterglow was growing tall, just like yours and this just means it needs more light. It is stretching out in search of more light, but otherwise looks healthy!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment