Hens and chicks Chick Charms

* Common name: Hens and chicks Chick Charms

* Botanical name: Sempervivum Chick Charms

* What it is: Michigan breeder Chris Hansen, who specializes in producing new succulents (the current trendy plant rage), developed this branded line of more than a dozen new hens and chicks varieties.

Hens and chicks are winter-hardy succulents that grow in short rosettes. The ones that Hansen bred from his personal collection of more than 500 are exceptionally colorful. Most come in blends of burgundy, red, gold, blue, and green with names like Watermelon Ripple, Gold Nugget, Chocolate Kiss, and Bing Cherry.

Like all hens and chicks, these are easy to grow, need very little water, and hardly ever run into any trouble with bugs or animals.

* Size: Most grow 2 to 4 inches tall and slowly creep outward by producing young side shoots (the “chicks” from the mother “hen”). Space 12 inches apart in a garden setting.

* Where to use: Containers, window boxes, and troughs are ideal places since hens and chicks need less water than the daily needs of potted flowers. They’re also excellent in any rock garden, as green-roof plants, and really in any sunny spot, so long as the drainage is good.

* Care: Sandy, gritty, well drained soil is the most important need. If you’re going to kill Chick Charms, it’ll be by rotting their roots in wet soil.

Fertilizer needs are low, so once or twice a year with a balanced, granular fertilizer is enough. Side-shoot “chicks” can be dug, separated, and replanted early each spring to expand the flock or give to friends.

* Great partners: Besides other succulents, the best partners are dwarf conifers, which also do best in well drained soil and lots of sun. A few good ones are dwarf Norway spruce ‘Little Gem,’ dwarf cryptomeria ‘Globosa Nana,’ dwarf golden Hinoki cypress ‘Nana Lutea,’ and dwarf Oriental spruce ‘Nana.’