News, encounters, profiles and discoveries from the world of Aeoniums.
Growers, hybridizers, collectors, new creations and the stories shaping the cultivation of the genus Aeonium.
FEATURED
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Aeonium × Sempervivum: The Cross Once Thought Impossible
‘Cornish Pixie’, ‘Clunk’, × Semponium and Kerveat’s experiments: for more than a decade, several growers have claimed to cross two genera often considered incompatible. This investigation examines the evidence, the objections and the unresolved genetic question.
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× Semponium by Surreal Succulents: Revolutionary Hybrids Between Aeonium and Sempervivum?
Discover the × Semponium hybrids developed by Surreal Succulents, their claimed origin, cultivars and the botanical debate surrounding them.
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Discover the Aeonium Hybrids Created by Penberth Plants
Explore the history, breeding program and principal Aeonium cultivars created by Cornwall’s award-winning Penberth Plants nursery.
DISCOVER
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Jack Catlin: The Man Who Shaped a Generation of Aeoniums
John “Jack” Catlin (1919–2008) was one of the key figures in the modern hybridization of Aeoniums. By crossing ‘Zwartkop’ with various species, he created iconic cultivars such as ‘Velour’, ‘Cyclops’, ‘Blushing Beauty’ and ‘Zwartkin’, whose genetic legacy can still be found in some contemporary variegated Aeonium lineages.
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Mellie Lewis: Exploring the Still-Unknown Frontiers of the Aeonium World
Never have we grown so many Aeoniums… but do we really know what we are growing? The explosion of Asian variegated cultivars, names becoming confused or multiplied, old cultivars at risk of disappearing, forgotten species from Africa and Yemen, climate change… In this second article, Mellie Lewis offers a fascinating and uncompromising perspective on the…
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Mellie Lewis, Britain’s Guardian of Aeoniums
From an Aeonium rescued from the compost heap to the description of a new species, Mellie Lewis has devoted nearly forty years to these fascinating plants. Behind her British National Plant Collection lies a remarkable story of passion, botanical investigation and forgotten cultivars she is determined to preserve for future generations.
