Hung Up on Haworthias

It’s been a crazy week filled with important meetings, appointments, and family events and I find myself at the deadline. I want a plant I can feature, and it’s a time of the year when most plants aren’t shining their brightest. I’m rifling through my photo files, and a group of old friends pops up.

My beloved haworthias. I collected my first one when I was a teenager. It came with a mixture of succulents, and I grew it for several years until I left Texas for Ohio.

When I moved back a few years later and resumed my hobby of greenhouse gardening I got right back in with haworthias. It reached a fever pitch when West Coast nurseries started putting them on their websites and even on eBay.

I had a trip to the Garden Writers Association of America convention in California that gave me the opportunity to visit some of my sources in person, and that’s when I realized I’d probably bought enough haworthias. Let me explain.

I was in the old Abbey Gardens in Carpenteria, California (now closed). They were famous for their incredible selection of rare succulent plants. I commented that I was about to pay them $75 for what would be my variety number 410. The manager smiled and said, not in a bragging way, “We just bought our 2,100th variety. They do get expensive.”

That (410) was my high-water mark. But I have loved them all the while.

Fun facts about Haworthias
Here are some things you might find of interest.

• What is the source of the name?
The genus Haworthia was named in 1809 in honor of Adrian Hardy Haworth, British entomologist and succulent enthusiast who cataloged many African plant species.

• How many species are there? Approximately 150 species.

• Where are they native?
Almost all the species of haworthias are native to rocky, semi-arid habitats of South Africa. Only one or two species are found growing outside that country. They are often found growing beneath shrubs and small trees.

• How large do they grow?
They grow as rosettes, almost all staying at 2 to 4 inches, occasionally 5 in. in diameter. They are slow growing and remain compact. That makes them well suited for cultivation in small pots.

• What plant family are they in?
Closely related to aloes and gasterias (both larger than haworthias), they are in the Asphodelaceae plant family (formerly Liliaceae).

• Do they flower?
Yes. In spring and summer. Their small, white, “lily-like” flowers are produced on wispy stems. Not much to look at unless you’re interested in hybridizing them. (My efforts there proved frustrating for me – anybody with that many collections probably frustrates easily.)

• What kind of lighting do they need?
Because they’re adapted to partial sun in nature, they do well on a bright windowsill indoors – better than many other houseplants.

• What kind of potting soil and moisture do they need?
Use a loose, highly organic potting soil to which you have added 25 percent expanded shale or fine aquarium gravel (BB-sized). It’s better to let them go a day or two extra between waterings than to risk over-watering them.

• How are they propagated?
By offsets, or “pups.” With the soil moist, gently separate the side shoots from the mother plant. It’s best to use only offsets that already have their own roots. Pot them at the same depth at which they were growing already.

They can also be grown from seed. This is the way hybridizers start their new plants, but that means they have conquered the frustration factor I mentioned earlier. It also means they are willing to wait the months it takes the tiny seeds to sprout and grow.

• Are haworthias poisonous to pets?
No.

Extra-special fun facts…
And three more just for the novelty.

• Why are the leaves of H. limifolia whorled?
This species produces spiraling rosettes of leaves. Each new leaf emerges slightly offset, creating a Fibonacci-like twist. The genetics of this twist are dominant in hybrids, resulting in some strange looking offspring.

• Why is H. truncata truncate?
The term “truncate” means “cut off,” and it refers to the fact that each leaf looks like it has been literally cut off square, as if with scissors. But the most curious part of that is that in nature the rest of the leaf grows beneath the soil. Only the flat tips of the leaves are level with the soil surface. The translucent “windows” capture sunlight down into the leaves. The rest of the leaf tissues remain protected from the sun, heat, and drought.

• How many matches for “Haworthia” are there on eBay currently? What is the price range?
As of yesterday (Wednesday) evening, there were more than 1,900 Haworthias on eBay. Prices ranged from $4.75 to $914.99.

I don’t know how many haworthias are on ETSY. I quit counting on Page 12 with 48 per page, but they were still posting. There are many!

Note: I would suggest buying from United States sources. I’m sure the Southeast Asian sources that you occasionally see are just fine, but it worries me to spend that much money to have plants shipped that far unless I have a really good reason.