Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. Hardy to around 25°F. This plant is slow to develop a stem but benefits from being beheaded and re-rooted every 3 to 4 years.

The genus Echeveria is a member of the large Crassula family (Crassulaceae), which has about 1,400 species in 33 genera with worldwide distribution. Echeveria, with approximately 180 species, are native to mid to higher elevations in the Americas with the main distribution in Mexico and central America but with one species found from as far north as southern Texas and several species occurring as far south as Bolivia, Peru and possibly Argentina. The name for the genus honors the Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy in 1828 by the French botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (DeCandolle) who was very impressed with Echeverría's drawings. Echeverría had accompanied the the Sessé and Mociño expedition (led by Martin de Sessé y Lacasta and Mariano Mociño Suárez de Figueroa) while exploring Mexico and northern Central America and had produced thousands of botanical illustrations. The book "The genus Echeveria" by John Pilbeam (published by the British Cactus and Succulent Society, 2008) is an excellent source of information on the species and "Echeveria Cultivars" by Lorraine Schulz (AKA Rudolf Schulz) and Attila Kapitany (Schulz Publishing, 2005) has beautiful photos and great information on the cultivars and hybrids. It has been argued by some that the correct pronunciation for the genus is ek-e-ve'-ri-a, though ech-e-ver'-i-a seems in more prevalent use in the US.

Some sources list Harry Butterfield as the originator of Echeveria 'Blue Curls' but others attribute it to Frank Reinelt. Harry Butterfield, was a known hybridizer of Echeveria. An article in the Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) Journal titled "Echeverias for the Fancier" was about a talk Butterfield gave to the California Cactus and Succulent Society on Nov. 8, 1953 where he reviewed the known species and hybrids of Echeveria (unfortunately w/o mentioning 'Blue Curls'). Butterfield was also known to have created several named hybrids of Echeveria gibbiflora, which would be one of the presumed parents of 'Blue Curls'. Mr. Reinelt, who operated Vetterle and Reinelt Nursery in Capitola, California, was more famous for his primrose, begonia and delphiniums but also worked with succulent plants. This hybrid is noted as the sister seedling to another well-known cultivar, 'Blue Waves'. Both plants have nice color and form and are good for contrasting with narrow or smaller foliage plants. We grew this interesting dark cultivar from 2009 to 2018 from plants acquired from the micropropagation laboratory (tissue culture) at Longview Horticulture in New Zealand and the image used on this webpage is from them as well. 

This information about Echeveria 'Blue Curls' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.