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My heart sank when I first saw Sempervivum 'Baby Boo'. This is the tragic level to which Sempervivum naming has sunk.
It isn't enough that people seem to name every scum-soaked seedling that they raise, they have to infict cutesy-wootsy names
on the wretched compost fodder. I bought it anyway. Raised by Volkmar Schara in Germany and registered in 2000, it is a seedling from the hybrid between S. arachnoideum 'Albion' and S. arachnoideum Album'. The Huntington Botanical Gardens say: "This charming miniature selection is said to be a cross of two cultivars of Sempervivum arachnoideum, ‘Albion’ and ‘Album’, both white flowered selections with lime green foliage, like this one. Our plants came from Uhlig’s nursery in Germany, which provides an illustration on its website of tightly packed rosettes with copious arachnoid wool stretched between the leaf tips. Since we acquired the plant in 2012, it has grown prolifically but never produced any wool. Perhaps this is unnecessary in the balmy climate of southern California, or, alternatively, we have been propagating a hairless sport. In either case, this one seems well worth growing." Volkmar Schara's description is quoted on Sempervivum List saying: "Comes from the cross S. arachnoideum 'Albion' x S. arachnoideum 'Album'. This plant was selected from 250 seedlings. Many of the white-flowered siblings bloomed so strongly that they could not form beautiful cushions. The flower size is between those of the parents. The small light green rosettes are slightly spun over and form green cushions remarkably quickly. The cross has been proving its strengths in the garden for years! In the summer of 2003, the plants showed a particularly rich flowering, but the cushions remained nicely closed. The plants don't want to be too dry during flowering! As every year for flowering, an absolute hit." |
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| 7th November 2008 | ||
