Black Prince echeveria

Sun

Full sun to light partial shade. Give it strong light for dark leaf colour, but protect it from fierce afternoon sun in very hot climates.

Water

Low water needs. Water thoroughly, then let the potting mix dry before watering again; keep almost dry in cool winter conditions.

Soil

Very freely draining, gritty soil or cactus potting mix amended with pumice or coarse grit. Avoid heavy clay and containers without drainage holes.

Height

0.3-0.5 ft (0.1-0.15 m), with flower stems reaching about 1 ft (0.3 m)

Spread

0.5-1 ft (0.15-0.3 m), gradually wider as offsets develop

Flowers

Red flowers on upright stems, usually in autumn to early winter; flowering time varies with climate.

Foliage

Evergreen. Fleshy, pointed, broadly triangular leaves in tight rosettes. Young leaves are green, darkening to chocolate-brown or nearly black in strong light.

Growth

Slow to moderate

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.4 ft (0.13 m)

   full size

About 8 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Growth rate

Slow

• Water the soil rather than the rosette, and empty saucers after watering.
• Move plants into stronger sun gradually to prevent leaf scorch.
• Feed once or twice during active spring and summer growth with a dilute cactus fertiliser.
• Keep frost-free in a bright, cool position over winter; outdoor survival at the colder end of its range needs dry, sheltered conditions.
• Repot in spring when offsets crowd the container, using a pot only slightly larger than the root ball.

Pruning. Remove spent flower stems at their base after flowering. Gently pull away fully dry lower leaves, but leave healthy foliage intact.

Spring

Repot crowded plants and separate well-developed offsets if you want more plants.

Late spring

After frost risk has passed, gradually acclimatise overwintered plants to outdoor light.

Summer

Water when the mix has dried, and check leaf bases for mealybugs.

Autumn

Reduce watering as temperatures fall and move containers under cover before frost.

Winter

Provide the brightest available frost-free position and water sparingly.

• Use a single rosette in a small, plain container where its dark colour and symmetrical shape stand out.
• Combine with pale or blue-grey succulents in a shallow bowl with drainage holes.
• Plant near the front of a frost-free gravel garden, against a light-coloured mineral mulch.
• Group containers on sunny steps or a courtyard table, moving them under cover for winter.

Garden styles it suits: Contemporary minimal, Desert modern, Architectural minimal, Dry gravel garden, Desert / xeriscape and Small-space.

Plant it with: Mexican snowball, Ghost plant, Jelly bean plant, Blue chalksticks and Zebra haworthia.

Wildlife: Flowers may attract bees and other nectar-feeding insects where the plant flowers outdoors.

• Root or crown rot: prevent prolonged wetness with gritty mix and drainage holes. If the base becomes soft, salvage healthy offsets or leaves before rot spreads.
• Mealybugs: inspect leaf joints and roots; isolate affected plants and dab visible insects with a cotton bud lightly moistened with rubbing alcohol, testing a small area first.
• Stretched, green growth: provide brighter light gradually. Existing stretched stems will not become compact again.
• Sun scorch: pale or brown dry patches follow sudden exposure to strong sun; acclimatise plants gradually and give afternoon shade in extreme heat.

Not known to be toxic to cats, dogs, horses or people; no part is recognised as poisonous. It is an ornamental plant, not a food crop, and eating it may still cause mild stomach upset.

• Black Knight echeveria (Echeveria affinis 'Black Knight')

  Its dark leaves are generally longer, narrower and more upright than the broad, triangular leaves of Black Prince.

• Black rose aeonium (Aeonium 'Zwartkop')

  Forms larger rosettes of thinner, spoon-shaped leaves on conspicuous branching woody stems, rather than compact, low rosettes.

Echeveria honours the Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy, while 'Black Prince' refers to the cultivar's dark foliage.

Propagation. Separate offsets in spring or early summer, allow cut surfaces to dry for several days, then pot into gritty mix. Whole healthy leaves can also produce new plants; let the detached end callus before laying the leaf on the surface of propagation mix. Seed will not reliably reproduce this cultivar.

Accepted botanical name

Echeveria

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.