• Echeveria elegans
  • Echeveria elegans
  • Echeveria elegans
  • Echeveria elegans
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Echeveria elegans

Mexican snowball

With its beautifully formed silvery rosettes, Echeveria elegans is a charming succulent that adds year-round structure to bright indoor spaces and sunny summer patios.

Supplied as an established plant in a 2 litre pot

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Echeveria elegans
Echeveria elegans
Echeveria elegans
Echeveria elegans

Aspect

full sun

Hardiness

Tender in the UK and not frost hardy, so it needs winter protection.

Flowers

May - July

Soil

Sandy, gritty, very well-drained compost

About this plant

Powder-blue rosettes, neat as a rose

  • Description

    Echeveria elegans, the Mexican snowball, is a compact, evergreen succulent forming beautiful tight rosettes of plump, spoon-shaped leaves in a soft silvery blue-green, often flushed pink at the tips and dusted with a fine, powdery bloom. Slow-growing and endlessly appealing, it spreads over time into clumps of rosettes as it produces offsets around the parent. In late winter and spring, arching pinkish-red stems carry lantern-shaped pink flowers tipped with yellow. Perfect for pots, sunny windowsills, rockeries and succulent displays, it is one of the most popular and easy-going of all succulents.

  • Why we like it

    “

    Echeveria elegans is the classic succulent, and for good reason. Its symmetrical, powder-blue rosettes are beautiful all year, it asks for almost nothing beyond sun and sharp drainage, and it happily multiplies into a cluster of offsets you can pot on for free. Lovely in a terracotta pot, a shallow bowl display or a sunny rockery in summer, and easily brought indoors as a houseplant for winter. A perfect first succulent.

Key features

What makes it special

Loved by bees & pollinators

Drought tolerant

Evergreen, year-round interest

Specs & details

The particulars

Botanical name
Echeveria elegans
Common name
Mexican snowball
Supplied as
2 litre pot
Flower colour
Pink
Eventual height
5-8cm (flower stems to around 25cm)
Eventual spread
10-30cm (spreading by offsets)
Flowering period
May - July
Habit
Compact rosette-forming perennial succulent
Life cycle
Evergreen succulent
Hardiness
Tender in the UK and not frost hardy, so it needs winter protection.
Aspect
full sun
Soil type
Sandy, gritty, very well-drained compost
Moisture
Dry to lightly moist, but well-drained
Position
Container, rockery, sunny windowsill or succulent display
Plant spacing
Space around 15 to 20cm apart, or plant singly in a small pot.
Growing skill
Easy to grow

Plant calendar

When to plant, when it performs

 
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
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AUG
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OCT
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DEC
Planting
Flowering

Grow outdoors over summer once frosts have passed, and bring under cover before the first autumn frost. Lantern-shaped flowers appear on mature plants in late winter and spring.

Planting & care

Help it thrive

Planting guide

Plant in spring or summer in a gritty, free-draining compost, ideally one made for cacti or succulents. Use a pot with drainage holes and avoid planting too deeply. Place in a bright position and allow the compost to dry slightly between waterings to prevent rot.

Care tips

Keep in bright light for the best shape and colour. Water lightly and let the compost dry between waterings. Avoid cold draughts, waterlogging and prolonged damp conditions. Remove any dead lower leaves to keep the rosettes tidy.

Winter care

Protect from frost and excess winter wet. In the UK, it is best grown indoors or moved to a bright, frost-free place over winter. Water very sparingly during the colder months and ensure excellent drainage at all times.