Aeoniums w Annie & Debra

Aeoniums with Annie Starring ‘Lily Pad’

Learn about handling aeoniums, and discover the lovely 'Lily Pad' variety.

When succulent star Annie Schreck visited recently, we made a video about aeoniums and planted several in container gardens.  It's the latest in a series that features Annie's Southern CA succulent adventures. Annie is the on-air talent and Director of Botanical Research at Mountain Crest Gardens, the largest online succulent nursery, located in northern CA.

To watch more aeonium videos I've done on this popular succulent genus, see my YouTube aeonium playlist. For more "Annie" videos, be sure to subscribe to our respective YouTube channels: Mountain Crest Gardens and Debra Lee Baldwin.

Aeonium (Catlin hybrid) (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Aeonium (Catlin hybrid)

Can you grow aeoniums?

Native to the Canary Islands and Morocco, aeoniums thrive outdoors in zone 9 (and higher if in dappled shade). Most species are summer dormant and their growth season is winter, but aeoniums are seldom seen where humidly is high and rain falls in summer (such as Hawaii and Florida).

Aeoniums and jade

Aeoniums thrive happily with jade plants in a Laguna Beach garden

Refresh in Fall

Shorter days and cooler temps signal aeoniums to awaken from summer dormancy. Fall and early winter are the best time to prune and replant lanky, overgrown aeoniums. Cut the rosettes, leaving several inches of stem, and discard the rest of the plant, roots and all. (Roots are seldom deeper than 3 inches.)

Prepare the Soil

If the soil is compacted, add amendments such as compost and pumice to enhance its friability. This enables cuttings to root easily. Replant the rosettes, using each one’s stub of trunk to anchor it. By spring the cuttings will have rooted and the rosettes will be a glorious bed of glossy pinwheels.

Learn More About Aeoniums

If you're wondering what kind you have (or may want), see 30 varieties on the Aeonium page of this site. There you'll also find comprehensive info on aeoniums from my book, Designing with Succulents (2nd ed).

Green aeonium spiral (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Aeonium Uses, Photos, IDs, Varieties

Aeonium Uses, Photos and Varieties Native to the Canary Islands and Morocco, aeoniums thrive outdoors in zone 9 (and higher if in dappled shade). Prune and replant in autumn. See All Succulent Types Aeonium Agaves Aloes Cactus Crassula Echeveria Euphorbias Ice Plants Kalanchoe Portulacaria Senecio About Aeoniums Aeonium rosettes resemble big, fleshy-petalled daisies. Colors include green,…

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6 Comments

  1. JANE LINDHORN on August 25, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    I love aeoniums! I have 3 on my windowsill. Thanks for the video! It was very informative.
    I can’t send pictures here!

    • Debra Lee Baldwin on August 25, 2021 at 3:41 pm

      Hi Jane — That’s wonderful! Yeah, WordPress doesn’t let people who comment attach photos (probably just as well). But you can hit “reply” to one of my newsletters and send them to me that way.

  2. Susan on September 10, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    My kiwis look horrid during the summer, almost dead looking, but later in the winter they are as bright as flowers. My first summer with them, I just couldn’t understand why they looked so bad, but then I learned they are summer dormant.

    • Debra Lee Baldwin on September 10, 2021 at 10:07 pm

      Yes, they can look awful in summer. It’s amazing what a difference a few months makes!

  3. Isabel Bloom on August 3, 2024 at 8:38 pm

    I live in coastal Orange County and have an aeonium that has fallen outward (like a starfish shape). It’s August and the aeonium is dormant and looking leggy and ugly in my courtyard! Can I pull it out, roots and all, and keep it in a shaded area unpotted until October when it comes out of dormancy?

    I want to relocate it at that time and propagate it as well.
    Thank you!

    • Debra on August 10, 2024 at 1:34 pm

      Hi Isabel, yes, the best time to start aeoniums from cuttings is October or November. Yes, pull it out, roots and all. It’s an interesting idea to keep the rosettes and plant intact (but uprooted) before cutting and planting them in the fall. I don’t know if being on the stem would keep the rosettes fresh longer. It’s possible. You also could leave a few inches of stem and set cuttings in a container of water—or even moist soil. Stems may produce roots, but even if they don’t (being dormant) this will keep them hydrated.

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