A wonderful little plant when in bloom - very attractive little flowers in pink, orange, red, or yellow colours, often striped. Leaves are succulent in appearence, and form a small rosette.

Grows about 6" tall, blooms late spring, early summer.

This plant is a bugger to grow. Very susceptible to crown rot - if the crown of this plant stays wet for too long, the plant rots and dies. I've had them die of crown rot in the summer after a couple weeks of wet weather.

Best advice seems to be to plant them on an extreme slope, if you can, to provide the drainage they need.  Also to plant in sandy or gravelly soil to promote drainage. (Update 2003 - planting them bareroot seems to really help their survival, too. Don't plant them with any potting soil under their crown and roots, plant them bare root in sand / gravel).

Hardy to zone 3. Usual advice is to grow them in full sun.

Glen's rating:  9.