Sempervivum: A Gardener’s Perspective of the Not-So-Humble Hens-and-Chicks (Book)

Sempervivum: A Gardener’s Perspective of the Not-So-Humble Hens-and-Chicks by Kevin Vaughn

• Essential garden subjects for rock gardens, pots, and many other garden situations for easy-care plantings
• Useful information for beginners and advanced gardeners
• Varieties in gold, red, pink, and near black in sizes from 0.5" to over a foot in diameter

Sempervivum have long fascinated gardeners and are useful plants for gardening situations in which other plants might fail. Many people are aware of only a single, rather uninteresting green cultivar, but selections from the wild and the work of hybridizers have resulted in over 7,000 cultivars with a range in size from 0.5" to over a foot in diameter and colors from gold to black. Clearly the gardener has never had a better choice. This book covers all aspects of their history, taxonomy, culture, propagation, hybridizing, people involved in the production of Sempervivum, and a long list of cultivars that are recommended for the gardener. Color illustrations show not only the cultivars, but garden uses and cultural practices.

About the Author

Kevin Vaughn has been fascinated by plants since a youth growing up in Massachusetts. At age nine he made his first crosses with Sempervivum and the cultivars 'Silvertone', 'Emerald Spring', and 'Greenwich Time' were the result. Cultivars 'Jungle Shadows' and 'Lipstick' were award winners created when Kevin was but twelve. This early fascination with plant breeding led to a PhD in plant genetics and a career with the USDA as a plant cell biologist. He was USDA Scientist of the Year, Young Weed Scientist, and Research Award Winner of the Weed Science Society of America. Besides his work with Sempervivum, Kevin hybridizes irises of all types, daffodils, dayliles, penstemon, alliums, Pulmonaria, and hardy geraniums. Nothing with pollen is safe on his property! Kevin has written several books on plants, including Beardless Irises: A Plant for Every Garden Situation published by Schiffer.

Hardback, 208 pages ISBN: 0764355120 (9780764355127), Published by Schiffer