In 2015 the very first Semponium ever was bear . A cross between an aeonium and a sempervivum . The offspring of this really unique interbreeding , the Semponium Destiny , was named RHS Plant of the Year sooner this year , a coronation on the living ’s body of work of Daniel Michael . He shares with us the howling narrative of his discovery .
Daniel Michael with his Semponium Collection
On the cliff of the bantam island Saint Michaels Mount , just off the sea-coast southwest of Cornwall , various types of succulent prosper . This was discovered by its nurseryman , Daniel Michael , who had a finicky love for these plants and , as a hobby , kept an ever - growing collection . He scouted the creation to seek over-the-top varieties and pass many hours every 24-hour interval in his greenhouse produce and cherishing his plant until , at a sure here and now , a tragedy come . “ In 2009 , we had a very cold wintertime , and half of my collection froze to death . This nearly became the end of us . I was about to throw in the towel and give up . I have four untried children , and middling much all my money and destitute time cash in one’s chips into my works collection . If all that can go down in just one night – I merely could n’t justify that to my sept . ”
Unless , he recollect to himself , I begin breeding myself , and my industrial plant become more resistant to cold . “ I principally looked into aeoniums , since these plants are fairly stiff , and in 2012 I had my first hybrid , theAeonium Fenix Flame . This was a cross between two genus Aeonium breeds , which was wintertime intrepid up to -7 ( degrees Celsius ) and of noteworthy ornamental time value . ”
However , he wonder , would n’t it be potential to get them even hardier ? Could the aeonium , for lesson , be hybridise with a truly winter - audacious sempervivum ? “ I seek for two years but without success . It ’s a real challenge to bring about carrefour , for aeoniums bloom from April to the end of May / source of June and the sempervivums in July and August . To be able to mate them , however , they both need to flower , but thanks to our large collection , we finally come after anyway . After that , I have seek a stupefying amount of crossroad , hundreds of them , knowing that for every one hundred crossings , an average of about one in reality might direct to something . ‘ If I could get this colouring into that works , or that material body in there , that would be awing ! ’ but it was actually only in the third year I reached my first success . In 2015 we could eventually show the first reliable Semponiums . ”
Conquering the worldCurrently , Daniel has discovered its electric potential and , to that end , establish his own breeding company Surreal Succulents , which has six miscellanea available for professional agriculturist ( three as we speak , the other three following soon ) . These are trademarked and market further by Plantipp .
Kim and Peter van Rijssen . One class ago , they took over Plantipp from their sire .
“ In 2020 , a customer tell us about the existence of Surreal Succulents and the Semponium , ” business relationship manager Thijs Veldhuijzen tells us . “ It concerned a crossroad between an aeonium and a sempervivum , i.e. , an intergenic crossover . We immediately need to hear all about it . We reached out , got along well mightily from the start , and from that percentage point on , things really get ahead momentum . ”
Unreal Succulents was already make out to true aficionados but not yet to professional growers worldwide . Up until that moment , there was no sales or marketing nor serious propagation in the sense of musical scale . These aspects have been take up by Plantipp and the propagation is now outsourced to Veldhuijzen Sierteelt , a Dutch company that ’s already narrow in propagating sempervivum .
More or less parallel to these development , outside acknowledgment jump seeping in . In 2021 the Semponium Sienna won the 3rd place at the Chelsea Awards , and this year the Semponium Destiny took1st place . In the UK , these honor are consider very prestigious and one of the best potential references one can wish for .
“ The upcoming year , Plantipp is determined to take the product to the next level . It ’s a drought - repellent plant ; it can withstand extreme atmospheric condition conditions and hardly require any maintenance . We have high expectations for sale in both the Netherlands and Southern Europe . In The Netherlands , there are a lot of professional growers , and the local North European market will love the Semponiums both in the garden and as an indoor plant life . In Southern Europe , where succulent are very pop already , the demand for drought - resistant plants raise faster every year . ”
“ Enjoy them”Breeders are supplied by Veldhuijzen Sierteelt , and from 2023 on , the parent material of all six varieties will be uncommitted . For more information , people can get through out to Plantipp , although Daniel would also wish to apportion a little scrap of refinement advice himself . “ leave for as much sunshine as potential , a short substrate , and if it gets really red-hot , just let them be . They enter a kind of inactive state . To water them would actually be a accent . But the most important matter is this : just enjoy them . ”
Surreal SucculentsDaniel Michael[email protected]https://surrealsucculents.co.uk/
Plantipp B.V.Thijs Veldhuijzen[email protected]Tieme van den Haak[email protected]www.plantipp.eu
© FloralDaily.com/Geert Peeters
