Mexican Snowballs Echeveria

Echeveria is the genus that includes nearly 200 species of houseplants and myriads of hybrids. The genus is named for Atanasio Echeverria y Godoy, a seventeenth century botanical illustrator who contributed to Flora Mexicana. The plants are succulents and found in the Crassulaceae family which includes sedums, the Jade Tree, Kalanchoe and many other genera. This plant is native to an area stretching from southwest Texas to northwest Argentina and it has been introduced to Vietnam and New Zealand. However, it is found everywhere in the world someone wants an easy to care for houseplant with an interesting shape and attractive flowers.

The thick fleshy leaves of this plant form a tight rosette which stays very close to the ground for a while, but eventually, as the leaves wither and drop from the bottom of the stem, this elongates. You can finish up with a tall stem with a rosette or two of leaves at the top. Not a problem. One of this plant's common names is based on the fact that it grows offsets (chicks). Simply remove an offset, place it in very well drained soil and it will root. You could also cut off the crown leaving a short stem which you repot again into very well drained soil. Or you might want to try removing a leaf and just leaving it on the soil. Eventually a small rosette will form and the old leaf will wither away.

The plant is native to deserts and so doesn't mind being in full sun. In fact, the coloring of the leaves improves with sunlight. It needs little water. And because they are generally small they make great additions to edge of border and rock gardens. However, they are not truly frost hardy so unless you live in places that don't get too cold, you have to bring them inside in the winter. Thankfully, they look great grouped in a short wide pot with bigger ones in the middle, trailing ones at the edge and everything in between. Try them by the poolside.

The leaves come in many different colors most tending towards grey, sea green and blue green. However some are pointed, some are rounded, some have thin veins of color running along the edge, others have a blush of color fading in towards the center. And if that is't enough to tempt you, once a year stems rise from where the leaf meets the stem and flowers of light pink, reddish pink sometimes with yellow marking in the throat appear in a group at the ends attracting bumble bees and hummingbirds. Sometimes there are small leaves along the stem as well.

Quick ID:

• Thick, fleshy, upright leaves in a mounding habit
• Entire margins with a point at the tip

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems

VIDEO Created by Laura Barth for "Houseplants, Succulents, and Cacti", a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.