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| Aeonium 'Sunburst' S. Reeve |
Looking to add year-round color to your garden? Aeonium decorum 'Sunburst' is your plant! This green and white variegated succulent glows with strawberry-red tips in full sun. Individual rosette pinwheels of pointed fish scale-shaped fleshy leaves are edged in cream with a light green stripe up the center. In newer foliage the cream is more of a butter yellow. The variegation can vary, and some rosettes will have more green than cream or show up entirely cream. Likewise, the amount of red can vary as well. I prefer a good amount of red to provide color interest. The leaves radiate around a tight center arrangement of leaves and several concentric rows of scale-like leaves make each rosette up to 8-10 inches across. This colorful succulent plant does best in full sun, or light shade in hotter locations. It is hardy to frost-free zones 9a-10b. Most of the 35 species of Aeonium come from the Canary Islands, while the straight species of Aeonium decorum is from the islands of Gomera and Tenerife. There is also a crested form Aeonium decorum "Sunburst" forma cristata, which is wild-looking.
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| Crested form of Aeonium decorum 'Sunburst' Photo from Cactuspedia As with all Aeoniums, the plants go dormant in the summer. When it is hot and dry the rosettes can naturally curl up into a ball to decrease surface area and to conserve water. I find compared to other Aeoniums this plant balls up less than others, especially if not allowed to dry out.  One thing I really love about this plant is how from one rosette it can grow into a "shrub-form" in a year. The 2-foot rounded multi-branched form is very tidy and dense and is a nice substantial presence in the garden. It combines wonderfully with so many plants. I like this next to the orange-foliaged clumping Aloe cameronii or the orange rimmed single Aloe striata. Another good companion is Cordyline 'Cha Cha' sometimes called "festival grass" as it has colors of strawberry apricot in the foliage. Below is another possibility with Echeveria 'Mauna Loa'.  Echeveria 'Mauna Loa' with Cotyledon 'Mint Truffle' S. Reeve If you live where it freezes you can grow this in a pot. Again, take advantage of the three colors present in the plant while choosing a pot for it. Try to match the pink-coral-to-reddish highlight on the rosette edge or go for the blue complementary color for drama. Cobalt blue or turquoise would be fun. Use a well-draining mix of succulent soil (I like E. B. Stone's Cactus Mix) mixed with perlite for best results. Remember to just put planting mix in the pot with no gravel on the bottom as that messes up the drainage.  Aeonium 'Sunburst' S. Reeve One nice thing about aeoniums is you can easily make more plants. To do so cut off a rosette with a little handle of the stem and plant it in the ground. Many books say to heal the cut end over before planting but I haven't found that necessary. My soil does drain well though, so that may be why. Also, if the stems touch the ground they will often root. I have noticed rosettes of other Aeoniums that break off and roll away only to root so I guess this is a propagation strategy to increase the population. I noticed the other day that inside one of the rosettes my plant is growing additional leaves. I have no idea why this is happening. Here is a photo.  Aeonium 'Sunburst' S. Reeve In a couple of years, one of the rosettes will elongate and send up a bloom stalk and die shortly after. This is normal for this monocarpic plant. Usually, there are other stems of rosettes that just fill in so the blank space doesn't last very long. The long wands of white flowers are attractive to bees. Water a new plant well and fairly often (weekly) until it gets a good root system. After that this plant is fairly drought tolerant and only needs water in hot dry times. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings or the roots can rot. This is one of my favorite plants as it is consistently colorful and maintains a neat rounded shape that mixes well with other plants. How fun to combine this plant in new combinations that create pleasing accents in the garden. |
