Hens and Chicks: The Perfect Rock Garden Plant for Beginners

Every yard has a hot spot in which nothing wants to grow. It might be an area adjacent to a sidewalk or concrete foundation, on the south side of a garage or near the alley where the soil isn't all that fabulous. For these troublesome areas, rock garden plants such as Hens and Chicks are a wonderful alternative to the more traditional perennials.

What are Hens and Chicks?

One of my favorite rock garden succulents and certainly one of the easiest to grow are the house leeks, more popularly known as Hens and Chicks. This whimsical name comes from the plant's very distinctive style of propagation. The central plant reproduces by sending out several tiny shoots, called stolon, which soon grow into miniature versions of the mature plant. With a bit of imagination, the plant and its new plantlets look very much like a cluster of "chicks" surrounding the mother "hen."

Hens and Chicks are a very old fashioned plant that grow very close to the ground, with leaves that are shaped into a rosette. The Hens and Chicks in my rock garden resemble a short, squat purple tipped artichoke that opens as the weather warms up. There are however, many different species of Hens and Chicks which can range in color from light green, to purple tipped or even burgundy. The sizes also range from less than 1/2 inch in width to as large as eight inches across.

For ten and a half months of the year, the plant is cradled low to the ground and I'll often forget that it's even there. But, in the middle of summer, the mature plant suddenly sends up a thick, fuzzy flower stalk in an incredible burst of energy. The stalk will quickly reach nearly 12 inches in height and at its very tip will develop a delicate, star shaped flower.

How and where to plant