×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'

Scientific Name

×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'

Synonym(s)

Echeveria 'Fred Ives'

Scientific Classification

Family: Crassulaceae
Subfamily: Sempervivoideae
Tribe: Sedeae
Nothogenus: ×Graptoveria

Origin

×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' is a hybrid created by Albert Baynes, a founding member of the National Cactus & Succulent Society in England, in 1946. It results from a cross between Graptopetalum paraguayense and a plant in the Echeveria gibbiflora complex. This hybrid was named by van Keppel in 1979 for Fred Ives of Shipley, Yorkshire.

Description

×Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' is a beautiful succulent that forms clumps of large rosettes of fleshy, smooth, and waxy leaves at the end of short stems with pronounced leaf scars. The stems can grow up to 12 inches (30 cm) long and 1.2 inches (3 cm) in diameter, while the rosettes can reach up to 16 inches (40 cm) in diameter. They are green, flushed blue-grey, becoming brown with age. The leaves are obovate-oblanceolate, faintly keeled at the lower surface, measuring up to 6 inches (15 cm) long and 2.4 inches (6 cm) wide. They are green, flushed strongly bluish, becoming orangish, pinkish to purplish, depending on the time of the year and growing conditions.

The flowers are pale yellow, sometimes with red spots, and appear in clusters on arching stalks that can grow up to 2 feet (60 cm) long in summer.

Hardiness

USDA hardiness zones 9a to 11b: from 20 °F (−6.7 °C) to 50 °F (+10 °C).

How to Grow and Care

The rules for Graptopetalum care are similar to those for most succulents. Container-bound plants thrive in a mixture of peat, sand, or other grit, topsoil, and a little bit of compost. Full sun is the best situation, but they will also grow in partial sun with slightly rangy results.

Graptopetalums need excellent drainage and moderate water. You can tell when to water by sticking your finger in the soil. You should water if it is dry several inches down or the fleshy leaves look shriveled. Overwatering is a cause of root rots, and the plant can get several pest infestations.

These succulents are generally easily propagated by seeds, leaf cuttings, or offsets. Any rosette that breaks off has the potential to root and start a new plant. Even a leaf that drops off will quickly root below the parent plant and produce a new rosette. The new plant feeds off the leaf until it shrivels and falls off. The new little ghost plant had rooted and sprouted new leaves by then.

Learn more at How to Grow and Care for Graptopetalum.

Forms

Photo Gallery

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