Echeveria ‘Black Prince’ (Black Hens and Chicks)

A beautiful form of Echeveria with a bright green centre surrounded by pointy-tipped leaves that become increasingly purple as they mature. A classic rosette-forming succulent which can grow to a chunky 10cms across. They can produce deep red flower spikes in summer.

‘Black’ plants never really are but there’s a 100% cocoa chocolate-purple hue to these lovelies which gets damned close. The base of each leaf remains brilliantly green and gives their centre a throbbing,  radioactive quality which is rather fun, and they soon throw little offsets out hither and thither to fill a pot. A tightly-packed terracotta planter of these atop a sunny wall gives instant pointy Aztec Deco but they’re very versatile. You could perhaps pedestal a chunky dish of these to emerge surprisingly from a layer of deeper greens below, treating them as transient displays of living art. Or wedge them in any sunny spot to clasp and tumble from your cracks and crevices. The main thing is drainage and sunshine: give them both in abundance and they can be hardy through the year but we emphasize their location must be VERY well drained: spots in warm gardens e.g. central London, Cornwall and coastal areas will have the greatest success.

They’re ideal for the conservatory year-round of course, and you could always heave their pots inside to overwinter from early November. Pot into well drained soil, water very sparingly and do not let water pool on the foliage.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.