Hens and Chicks – Prosperity, Love, and Protection

Live Plants are shipped  in 4″, 6″, 8″ – landscape pots but can be ordered with handmade pottery planters. See Artisan Pottery on Luz Cottage.

Hen and chicks  is a common name for a group of small succulent plant. They belong to the flowering plant family Crassulacae, native to southern Europe and Northern Africa. The plants grow close to the ground with leaves formed around each other in a rosette, and propagating by offsets. The “hen” is the main, or mother, plant, and the “chicks” are a flock of offspring, which start as tiny buds on the main plant and soon sprout their own roots, taking up residence close to the mother plant.

A perennial succulent and easy-care herb, grows in zones 5-10. The Hens and Chicks are popular in gardens for its varied and interesting appearance. These hardy plants grow well in garden edges, containers, and rock gardens. Planting them in cactus or succulent soil will prevent your plant from sitting in water and meeting an untimely end. Using a pot that allows for drainage at the bottom will also aid in circulating the moisture, and keep the water from sitting at the bottom, this will prevent root rot. Although it does best in sun, it will grow in light shade.

Each plant will grow to four inches and produce round rosettes of leaves and flowering stems . A widely cultivated ornamental garden plant, it spreads easily and prefers sandy, dry soil. The plant will spread rapidly by offshoots, which can be left to form an attractive matting of plants, or rooted separately for use in other parts of the garden.

The name Hens and Chicks came about because with all the offshoots around it is reminiscent of a mother hen, surrounded by a brood of chicks. They are believed to be an herb of protection, luck, and love.  They are a plant of protection in the home.