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Aeonium 'Superb' - This attractive succulent cultivar forms a dense upright branching shrub 2 ½ to 3 feet tall with large 8 to 10 inch wide rosettes of narrow spathulate leaves that are green in middle of the rosette when emerging then turn a deep reddish purple in winter through spring and green up a bit in summer, but always maintains purple leaf tips and margins. When this plant first flowered it was noted that flowers were not on all branches and with small rosettes subtending the larger terminal flowering ones, so the smaller rosettes along the stem replaced the rosettes that flowered rather than the stem dying back as so many Aeonium do after flowering. While the color of this plants foliage and its flowering display are both very nice, it was this branching aspect that drew attention to this plant.
Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil and give occasional to regular irrigation. This plant originated in a garden in Goleta, California that gets annual light frosts and we speculate that it will tolerate short duration temperatures down to at least 28°F without damage. This is an exceptional long lived Aeonium for the garden.
This cultivar was named in 2019 for its superb looks and performance. It was a selection made by famed aloe breeder John Bleck from seedings from an open pollinated Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop'. The first selection of these seedlings John named 'Splash' as it has green leaf bases with bright red tips and this second seedling he first called 'Splish' but later, as this plant proved itself to be a larger more impressive plant, he chose a name more fitting to its superb qualities. We are working to also introduce 'Spash' as well can so continue to collectively refer to them as being in the Splish and Splash Series.
It is hard to pin down what the other parent may have been as there are many Aeonium in this same garden, including Aeonium decorum, Aeonium holochrysum, Aeonium haworthii, A. tabuliforme, A. undulatum as well as other hybrid selections that John has made such as those in the Jolly Series that includes 'Jolly Green', Jolly Towers' and 'Jolly Clusters' and John Bleck continues to make new Aeonium seedling selections annually.
This information about Aeonium 'Superb' 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.
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