Aeonium haworthii (Pinwheel) - A durable winter growing freely branching and dense growing succulent shrub that can grow up to 24 inches tall with an equal or slightly wider spread. On its many branches are borne 2- to 3-inch-wide rosettes of bluish-green leaves that are keeled on the lower surface and often tinged red along the ciliate margins. The flowers, which appear in late spring, rise above the foliage in a branched inflorescence and are very pale yellow to nearly white and sometimes tinged pink.
Plant in full sun to light shade along coast but requires light to full shade in hot inland locations. It likes a well-drained soil, tolerates little to no summer irrigation situations and is cold hardy to below 25°F. This is such a long lived and tough plant that fine large, rounded specimens are often found in older gardens and neglected sites. It is a good plant for near the beach, on steep and rocky slopes, and even as an understory plant for Eucalyptus. Because of these traits it is often traded around succulent gardeners, though it is not that commonly grown in nurseries.
Aeonium haworthii is from Tenerife in the Canary Islands where it grows in two widely separated populations on the north and south ends of the island from sea level up to 2,600 feet. The name Aeonium comes for Greek word 'aionion' or 'aionios' meaning immortal or everlasting for its succulent nature and presumed longevity. The specific epithet honors the English botanist and zoologist Adrian H. Haworth (1768-1833) who was a succulent plant specialist and for who the genus Haworthia is named. The species received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.
The information about Aeonium haworthii displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include 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 we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |