AEONIUM arboreum “Atropurpureum Schwarzkopf” (A.manriqueorum “Schwarzkopf”)

Certainly the most fascinating among the various forms of Aeonium arboreum, due to the unmistakable color of its leaves that reach shades really close to black, hence the German term "Schwarzkopf" or "black head". Fast growing and easy succulent cultivation, it is native to North African. It can grow about one-meter tall and large in a short time, forming a very original "bush" that resembles a bouquet of black roses: its fleshy stems in fact have narrow and long at the top leaves, with rounded apex and a rosette arrangement of an unusual dark color. Its flowering, unpredictable and in any case linked to late spring, consists of conical inflorescences that develop from the heart of a rosette and are formed by small yellow daisies.

Sunny and non-compact and well-drained soils: this will be enough to make it develop in a healthy and luxuriant way, while it does not react badly to the presence of salty winds typical of coastal gardens or long periods of drought, attention and a preferable winter shelter is advisable in places subject to intense and prolonged cold; it is also advisable to remove the rosettes that bloomed the year before in spring, to allow the development of new branches. In the open ground, as well as in pots on our terraces, verandas and balconies, alone or even combined with cacti of different nature, it can immediately become the protagonist thanks to its atypical color.