Tree Houseleek

Tree Houseleek Overview

Aeonium is a genus containing around 40 evergreen perennial succulents. They are popular with gardeners and house plant enthusiasts due to their distinctive look and ease of care (drought resistant). They bear regular rosettes of fleshy leaves at the ends of basal shoots and are commonly known as Tree Houseleeks. Cultivation has resulted in many hybrids with foliage colours ranging from green, to yellow, to brown, to purple. Panicles of numerous star-shaped flowers with many petals - usually yellow or white - emerge from the centre of the rosettes in spring or summer. It can however, take several years for Aeoniums to flower. When they do, bees love them! In temperate climates, Tree Houseleeks are best kept in a cool glasshouse or on a cool windowsill, out of direct sunlight. They like to be watered regularly in the growing season, as long as the growing medium is well-draining, but they do not need watering in winter (when dormant). They are best grown in special cactus compost. Originally from the warm climes of the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, North Africa and the Mediterranean, most Aeoniums need to be kept indoors in cooler climes but some may survive low temperatures in winter, if kept dry.