Species · genus Sempervivum · Crassulaceae
House-Leek
Sempervivum tectorum L.
Also known as: Common Houseleek · Hen-and-chickens · Houseleek · Hen-and-chicks
Cultivars of S. tectorum
The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.
No named cultivars catalogued under S. tectorum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.
Guide
The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.
The common houseleek
Sempervivum tectorum, the common houseleek, is a mat-forming evergreen succulent grown for its clusters of fleshy rosettes rather than for any fleeting bloom. It carries the RHS Award of Garden Merit, a mark given to plants judged reliable and garden-worthy after trial.
Source: RHS
A roof-dweller's history
This houseleek is native to the mountains of southern and central Europe. Its old habit of growing on house roofs gave rise to the common name, a use once thought to ward off lightning and fire, hold roof slates in place, or even serve as emergency winter salad. The genus name, from the Latin for always and living, and the species name, from the Latin for roof, both point straight back to that history.
Source: Missouri Botanical Garden
Sun, grit, little else
Give this houseleek full sun and a moderately fertile, sharply drained soil or gritty compost; it copes with acid, neutral or alkaline ground so long as water moves through freely. It appreciates a drink in dry spring or summer spells but manages perfectly well without one, and plants in the open ground rarely need feeding at all. Winter wet, rather than cold, is the real threat, so shelter from excess moisture matters more than warmth.
Source: RHS
Offsets and seed
The easiest route is by rooting the offsets, the small rosette 'chicks' that form at the ends of stolons, potted up in spring into free-draining, gritty compost. Named cultivars are best propagated this way since seed-grown plants rarely come true to type. Seed can still be sown in spring for species forms, or offset rosettes simply pressed into gritty compost and kept moist out of direct sun until they root.
Source: RHS
Rosettes, hens and chicks
The rosettes reach around 10cm across, their fleshy leaves blue-green suffused with reddish-purple, sometimes purple-tipped at the ends. In summer a central rosette sends up a stem to about 20cm bearing starry purplish flowers, then that rosette dies once it has flowered. Before it goes, it has already sent out the horizontal stolons that root into new mini-rosettes, the offsets behind the old name hen and chickens.
Source: RHS
Vine weevil and leaf miner
The common houseleek can be troubled by vine weevil, a soil-dwelling pest, and by sempervivum leaf miner, a comparatively new arrival in the UK. If a plant looks off-colour, a gentle tug to test the roots, or tipping it from its pot, will reveal whether a pest has been at the root system.
Source: RHS
Mostly trouble-free
This is generally an easy, low-fuss plant, but excess moisture will rot the roots, so sharp drainage in both soil and compost is the main safeguard. Rust is an occasional disease problem, and Missouri Botanical Garden notes leaf and stem rot and root rot as the other issues to watch for. Newly planted specimens can also attract birds trying to uproot them, easily discouraged with a length of taut thread.
Source: RHS
Repotting and tidying
No pruning is needed beyond trimming spent flower stalks if self-seeding is unwanted, and cutting back neighbouring plants that threaten to overshade the rosettes. Container collections benefit from being separated and repotted every two to three years in spring, clearing dead material and filling gaps left by rosettes that have flowered and died. Vigorous clumps in open ground can be split and replanted in spring too, once they start to look crowded or gappy.
Source: RHS
Care recipe
The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.
Care notes are early — not yet verified
- Light
- ai:claude-opus-4-8
- Water
- ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
- Humidity
- ai:claude-opus-4-8
- Soil
- ai:claude-fable-5
- Care
- ai:claude-fable-5
Direct sun
≈ every 28 days
Low — average room
5–24 °C
Gritty, sharp-draining cactus and succulent mix
Detach and replant the freely produced offset rosettes
Weak dilute feed once or twice in spring and summer only
Slow
Each rosette flowers once then dies, replaced by its many offsets
Not yet documented
This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.
Reference images
Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.
PrimarySources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5
Kept true by its growers
Every fact here carries its source. Grow House-Leek yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.
Sign in to add what you know →