Kalanchoe are a popular group of houseplants with a somewhat tricky name to pronounce but break it down into chunks and it’s easy: cal-an-co-ee. They are succulents mostly hailing from Madagascar and parts of tropical Africa and as such many, but not all, of them thrive when they experience 6-8 hours of sunlight. The majority of them are perennials, with just a couple being annuals and biennials and most of them are perfect houseplant sized, although the felt plant, K. beharensis, can reach 10 feet tall in its native environment! There are around 125 species and some of them are greatly hybridized, so there’s bound to be something to appeal to the houseplant lover, and here at Weston Nurseries we often carry them in 4” or 6” pots although take a look at our mixed 2” mini succulents – there’s often some gems to be found in the selections there!
K. beharensis – felt plant or velvet ear to give it two of its common names is a gray-green fuzzy leafed shrub. While it does grow large in the wild, indoors it remains far more manageable and with time can make a dramatic focal point for a bright, sunny space. There are several cultivars of this kalanchoe including Brown Dwarf which as its name suggests is a more compact variety and whose foliage is attractively tinged with bronze. Additionally, Fang is another variety which lives up to its name in that the underside of its leaves are punctuated with tooth-like tubercles and it too has bronze coloring on part of its leaves. This variety would reach 3 feet tall in the wild, so it will remain manageable indoors. While they are not cultivated for their flowers, felt plants can produce clusters of pale pinkish-green urn-shaped flowers under ideal conditions.
With K. tomentosa the family resemblance continues as this is another fuzzy-leafed species. This species is much smaller, obtaining only 3’ in the wild thus making it much more amenable to indoor cultivation where it generally remains much smaller. It too has predominantly gray-green foliage although this is often strikingly contrasted with brown edges, hence the common name panda plant. There are a number of cultivars which include Chocolate Soldier and Teddy Bear in which the leaf shape and contrasting coloration varies somewhat from the species and again the overall size is smaller than the straight species.
K. orgyalis has leaves that are only slightly fuzzy in appearance but the coloration of its new growth earns it the common name Copper Spoons. It is a slow-growing succulent taking years to reach its potential of 6’ tall and as a houseplant it will remain much smaller.
Certain other kalanchoe have smooth, fleshy leaves, examples of which are:
K. blossfeldiana is the most common kalanchoe, being the ever-popular Flaming Katy that comes with clusters of single star-shaped flowers in a variety of colors ranging from white through yellow, orange and red as well as pink. This is a compact plant with smooth scalloped fleshy leaves, usually plain green although there are variegated versions such as Candy Cane which with its red flowers is a winter favorite.
These succulents are also perennials and the trick to getting them to re-bloom is firstly to deadhead them as each individual flower dies. This encourages all existing buds to open, however once flowering is completely over there is a knack to getting them back into bloom. Like Christmas cacti, they need to be tricked into thinking they are experiencing winter, so require 14 hours of darkness for a period of about 6 weeks in order to trigger bud development. During this time reduce watering but once new flowers start to appear normal watering and light requirements can resume.
Calandiva are a hybrid form of K. blossfediana that have clusters of double flowers with 32 petals as opposed to the 4 that each Flaming Katy has. Apart from the difference in flowers, their characteristics and care are the same.
K. fedtschenkoi commonly known as Lavender Scallops also bears visual similarities to K. blossfeldiana with its scalloped, lavender-tinged leaves. Its flowers don’t immediately show their resemblance as they are bell-shaped but in shades of pink or red they make for an attractive plant which reaches about 12-18 inches tall.
K. luciae known as flapjack or paddle plant produces rounded leaves in pairs. These green-gray leaves will take on a rosy hue when exposed to full sun and will make an attractive plant growing about 1-2 feet tall. It tends to spread rather than grow upright, and with time will produce offsets. Once the plant flowers that particular stem will die, but by the time that happens the plant will have grown offsets at its base, and these can be potted up.
K. delagoensis is the champion of producing baby plants as its leaves are edged with plantlets which fall at the slightest knock and then root as soon as they touch the soil. This explains one of its common names, Mother of Millions, while Chandelier Plant refers to the appearance of the attractive orange bell-shaped flowers. It will grow to around 3 feet tall and given sufficient light you might be rewarded with some flowers, although it will always provide you with plenty of baby plants!
K. daigremontiana is another example of kalanchoe that produces baby plants around the edges of its leaves and one of its common names is Mother of Thousands. Overall, it is similar in size to K. delagoensis and if it produces flowers, they are attractive pink bells.
K. pumila, known as Fairy Dust Flower is an attractive smaller kalanchoe, which due to its attractive foliage and flowers lends itself to use in summer containers as well as a houseplant. Its gray-green leaves are coated with a white bloom, hence the “dust” part of its name and its showy pink flowers contrast nicely with its leaves. Only growing around 12” tall, it makes the perfect plant for sunny spots.
These are some of the more common kalanchoe species to be found for sale in our greenhouses, and while not every greenhouse will have all of these on any particular occasion, I find part of the pleasure of being a houseplant enthusiast is to regularly visit and see how the stock varies through the seasons, particularly those trays of mini succulents which can yield plenty of treasures!
