Darling Dudleya

Few succulents grow in coastal California.  Fortunately one genus is very charming.  It greets you from vertical cliff faces and road cuts as you zip down the highway.  Silver rosettes against dark rock:  how improbable! Possibly the cutest native plant you’ll find: Dudleya.

My very own Dudleya.  It languished at the top of a mound
till I yanked it out and jammed it horizontally into the steepest slope I had,
in the shade.  Now it is happy.

Dudleya like to be planted at an angle, to prevent water from pooling in their rosettes, and they like impeccable drainage.  So plant them horizontally.  Really.  The ultimate rock garden plant.  Also they look cool growing horizontally.  

Native plants pot with Dudleya at Tree of Life Nursery.

I’m crazy about Dudleya.  They make striking accents in a pot. Use sand or gravel in your soil for excellent drainage.  The most stunning Dudleyas I have seen are festooned across a dark cliff face (road cut) on Highway 101 around Thousand Oaks. Cheery little white rosettes, defying gravity.  I'd like to take a photo, but I would be killed. 

Chalk Dudleya 10 feet up a road cut on Highway 74.
Not much shoulder on that curvy road, and people take it at speed.
I risked my life to get this photo.
And they drove too fast to see the Dudleya.

I love the contrast of the white Chalk Dudleya leaves against dark rock or soil.  Dudleya pulverulenta is the common native Southern California Chalk Dudleya.  “Giant Chalk Dudleya,” Dudleya brittoni, is native to Baja CA.

On the same road cut, a green Dudleya edulis, of a different habit.
100% horizontal.

But then, a nice green “fingertips” Dudleya against grey rock is nice too. (D. edulis.)

Dudleya’s old-fashioned common name is “live-forever.”  You can kill it by rot (overwater or bad drainage), or by a hard freeze.  Not really any other way.   It can be disfigured by a light freeze, but it will keep growing.  Pull it out by its roots and set it on a shelf, and it will wait patiently for better times. If dudleya gets spindly, just cut off the rosette with an inch or two of stalk and stick it into the soil.  Horizontally, of course. 

Dudleya is an unusual succulent in that it prefers shade or part shade; full sun only right at the coast.  So you will only see it on north-facing road cuts.  Where did it live before we cut roads?  It may surprise you from deep under an oak tree, where you expected to see a fern or an iris. But only when the slope is steep so it can be happily horizontal.

These Dudleyas were growing in a road cut on Highway 1 in Big Sur.
The pull-off was wider; I did not risk my life.

As you explore different regions of coastal California, you will meet different Dudleyas endemic to each region.  What fun!

Two different Dudleya species grow side by side (horizontally) on Highway 74.
Life at risk for photo.

Which Dudleya species is it?  Who cares, if you like it.  I think I’ve seen hybrids in the wild.  The folks at Tree of Life seem remarkably unconcerned about their various Dudleyas having “hybridized a little.”  Oddly, I saw two distinct species growing right next to each other on Ortega Highway.  Maybe they’ll hybridize next year.  

Dudleya caespitosa in the rain at the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.
Great collection of Dudleyas there!
(Totally safe.)

Dudleyas refuse to grow in summer; best to let them shrivel (to appear dead, even), maybe giving them an occasional light dusting with a hose.  They’ll wake up when the time is right.   From Las Pilitas:

How do these dormant plants know when there has been rain if they are inside the greenhouse? This is such a bizarre thing. Dudleya pulverulenta (Chalk Dudleya) looks shriveled and dried up all summer. Even though they are in a plastic greenhouse, getting regular water. As soon as we get the first rain (outside) they start growing and look succulent and lush. Totally weird!

Check out all the different Dudleyas, including nifty flower stalks, at Calflora’s webpage. If you click on the individual species, you will see its natural range. Tree of Life Nursery has an article on Dudleyas, with a downloadable (PDF) photo chart.

Please never harvest a wild Dudleya.  It may be decades old, and rare or endangered to boot.  Sadly, you cannot propagate Dudleya from a leaf.  But you can harvest seeds!  I’ll be happy to take any seedlings off your hands.  Buy a small plant in Fall or Winter (Back to Natives Nursery has them now) and it will grow big if it’s happy.  Then when it gets daughter rosettes, give them to me. Thanks in advance.

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