Baby Sunrose in hypertufa with assorted succulents

How Did That Baby Sunrose Do Overwintering?

If you are a faithful reader of my blog, I know you will remember that last fall, I planted up my Baby Sunrose ( Aptenia cordifolia) in an aquarium so that I can store it over the winter. I had high hopes for it since I really love that plant. See the post here.

I am so happy to say that it worked out beautifully! Alive, growing, and so many cuttings for me to plant all over! And listen to this! My son had taken it home last fall, aquarium and all, to his house to keep it over the winter. With my house up for sale and buyers marching through, I removed all the clutter I could to make it “bare.” See this post.

My son over-wintered the Baby Sunrose & did a great job!

You see, his house has a big bay window, so I knew that would be a great spot to put it and it would not be in the way at all. He is single, and has just a few plants I have forced him to take potted up for him to take to his house.  A bachelor pad needs some decor doesn’t it?

Well, the Aquarium full of Baby sunrose did so well! It thrived and grew well. It stayed green and nice all during the cold winter months. My son admitted he forgot it a lot, but however he cared for it, I had a wonderful and huge pot to take cuttings from this spring and the Mother plant was nice enough to be potted up too.  See its new pot in this Pin below! Did my son do a good job!

Baby Sunrose - It survived in an aquarium over winter

Baby Sunrose is a trailing plant that spreads or trails depending on where it is planted. I have put cuttings in a lot of my planters along with other succulents because of its pretty bright green color. Some of the new growth on my over-wintered Mother plant are more white than green, and then there are a few branches that are all green. I suppose this is just a variation of the plant itself.

Rooting Baby Sunrose

The Aptenia cordifolia is very easy to propagate. Every one of the cuttings I have taken were just snipped off the Mother plant and shoved down into the soil. I took off a few bottom leaves so that I would have a stem. I understand that it can be rooted in water, and I think I will try that myself just so that I know.  It can be rooted just like a piece of coleus or pothos. Cut a piece and put the stem end in a glass of water and you will have roots in several days.

Cutting from Baby Sunrose

I usually like to root directly into the soil because I think it allows the “regular” soil root hairs to form which seek water. If it is rooted in water, my understanding is that these root hairs don’t form (since they don’t need to seek out water) and need to adapt to form later when planted in soil. So I guess putting the cutting into soil first allows it the best start? Maybe so.

My Son Overwintered My Baby Sunrose - It's Alive!

That aquarium really made a nice “planter” for overwintering, so hopefully I can do as well this year with all these new starts (and some full-grown plants) I have now. These Baby Sunrose have just started to bloom and mine are a bright pink or red color.

Tiny bud forming on the Baby sunrose

Here is another shot of one in more hypertufa. It has been some critter’s lunch, I think. But it is still growing with part of it gone. I think it will make it. Thanks for stopping by to check what’s going on in my garden. It is so hot here in Ohio now, I have to get it all done in the early morning hours or it just can’t get done. The humidity is brutal. How is it going for you?

She changed to green baby sunrose, and she got eaten!

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