Succulent Succulence: The Elegant Aeonium

Aeoniums are easily recognized as succulents, their fleshy leaves growing in rosettes. Originally distributed by sailors as souvenirs from the Canary Islands, they're readily available at nurseries and home stores; my first aeonium was a Target purchase of aeonium cyclops, a purple aeonium with green at the center of the rosettes. Aeoniums propagate frequently by offshoots or pups, and produce seeds once in their lifetime, dying after blooming.

Baby Aeonium right after being put in the ground.

The same plant a few weeks later.

Wait, aeoniums die after blooming? Yes, aeoniums are like agaves in that they live for years, then bloom once and expire. This isn't necessarily a problem, however. As long as the gardener knows this is going to happen, then it can be planned for and pruned correctly. Aeoniums reproduce just like agaves, though like most other succulents, aeoniums reproduce pups that are actually grown in between the leaves of mature rosettes, or along the stems of arboreal plants. Aeoniums also have shorter life cycles, which means you can enjoy aeonium blooms much more frequently than those of the century plant.

A few weeks after that the largest leaves have been completely blocked from the sun by new leaves.

When growing aeoniums it is important to let the plant expand through new rosettes and offshoots. One rosette may bloom then die, but you'll already have a larger body of plant that will continue to thrive. A dead aeonium must be removed from the living plants around/attached to it. With arboreal (tree-like) aeoniums, the dead bloom is removed and the stem trimmed of the now elongated rosette. DO NOT remove the entire stem! It is very likely that your aeonium will grow new offshoots from the bare stem.

Miniscule rosettes are blooming from "eyes" where the stem formerly had a leaf in this aeonium cyclops.

The aeonium cyclops before blooming.

An aeonium cyclops in bloom.

Aeonium blooms are cone-shaped structures made of tiny yellow flowers. I must admit, I was rather dismayed to find my aeonium blooming, and the stages in between preparing to flower and the actual bloom leave the plant looking like a phallic symbol from a Cronenberg film! In fact, I have no photos of that stage, as I avoided looking at my plant for awhile. I'm not a prude, but it was... gross. Now that I'm prepared for the weirdness, I'm waiting for the remaining largest rosette to bloom.

An adult aeonium of the same species as the plant in the first two photos.

Close-up of the center of the adult aeonium.

A new rosette growing between leaves near the base of the parent plant.

Two pups growing at the base of the larger adult plant.

I cut two pups off of this aeonium, though they wouldn't root for weeks! They're both still alive, and finally rooted after what might be a month. Both severed pups withered a bit, closed up, and turned yellow-green. As can be seen in the below photo, the leaves are going green again, indicating the plant has finally set out some roots and reached water. I don't plan on removed the two remaining pups; I'm curious to see how the plant will change as they expand and reproduce themselves.

One of four pups finally rooted and growing again.

Aeoniums look more plant-like to me than some other succulents. They are also more susceptible to damage. Scratches on leaves can scab over, and snails adore these plants! This damage is apparent in these variegated baby aeoniums. Water sitting on the plant can burn it, and create patterns of dots as you can see in the below image.

These particular plants were much less pink and yellow and very green when removed from their packaging. I kept them in the shade before planting them, and it's been fascinating watching their colors grow in! These are looking like they might be aeonium "Kiwi" plants, as they are remaining fairly low to the grow and are already reproducing. The tenacious plants are growing despite damage. Pink and green are my favorite colors, and like several other succulents, this aeonium bursts with the colors!

I'm growing one more aeonium, though I have no idea what type it is. It forms a small shrub and the long, green rosette leaves are slightly hairy and sticky. It came without a proper label, and I still haven't found an adequate description of it in any of my books or on the internet. Its growth has been rather explosive, and I'm curious to see if it grows taller or just spreads out.