What's the deal?
Aeonium are some of the most beautiful succulents in my garden, but for a good portion of the year they’re the ugliest. During the warm summer months, aeonium go dormant. Their leaves shrivel up and fall off. No new growth occurs and if cuttings are taken, they don’t root.
When do Aeonium succulents look good?
Aeoniums look the best when temps cool down for the fall and winter. When I planted my yard, I made sure to research which succulents are summer growers and winter growers. As they were planted, made sure to mix them up so that at any given time of the year different succulents take the spotlight as others go dormant.
How to Care for Aeonium in the Summer
When aeonium go dormant, really reduce the amount you water them as they really won’t take up much water via their roots. Also, don’t cut them back in the summer because they won’t grow back right away, if at all and you’ll be in worse shape than you began. Let them be until the weather is consistently cooler and you see that your aeonium are perking back up.
Here’s the perfect example why you shouldn’t prune aeonium in the summer.
I pruned these early in the summer while they were still lush and beautiful from their winter growing season. You can see where babies started to form, but never did because I pruned them right before they went dormant. Fight the urge to prune these in the summer or they may not recover.
