Jack Catlin
By Samantha Dowdall UCCE Master Gardener
Common name: Aeonium ‘Jack Catlin'
Scientific name: Aeonium canariense
Planting Area: USDA zones 9b -11
Size: Each rosette can grow to 6-8 inches across, and individual plants can spread to 18” tall and 24” wide.
Bloom Season: Aeoniums are cool weather growers, producing bright yellow flowers in the winter here along the Central Coast. Unlike most aeoniums, ‘Jack Catlin' rosettes do not die after blooming. During the warm months it will become mostly dormant, then resume growth beginning in autumn.
Exposure: Full to part sun
Pruning needs: Spent flowers can be removed to maintain a tidy appearance. While most aeoniums can be propagated by cuttings. Propagate by replanting the new growth pups once they have rooted and are still attached to the mother plant.
Water needs: Low to medium, depending on time of year. During particularly hot spells, twice weekly watering will keep your aeonium happy, otherwise once a week is sufficient.
Snapshot: Aeonium is a beautiful succulent originating in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain. This striking specimen was developed at the renowned Huntington Botanical Garden by horticulturist Jack Catlin. It is a hybrid of A. arboretum ‘Zwartkop' and A. tabulforme, which produced a plant with large symmetrical rosettes, deeply cupped, with dark red outer leaves and an apple green center.
As with all succulents, aeoniums require well-draining soil. These plants do not like wet feet! If grown in pots with good drainage, a commercial cactus mix will provide the proper amount of moisture.
One of the wonderful characteristics of ‘Jack Catlin' is its greater tolerance for both heat and light frost than most aeoniums. This is good news for succulent lovers with gardens in the inland areas who have both warmer and colder seasons than along the coast.
With enough space, this vigorous grower will stretch into low drifts of brilliant color. Planted next to a bright green or yellow groundcover, such as Sedum ‘Fine Gold Leaf', ‘Jack Catlin' is a real show-stopper for your Mediterranean garden on the Central Coast!
Advice to Grow By Workshops
Our next San Luis Obispo Advice to Grow By Workshop will be October 21st, 2023, at 10:00 to 12:00 p.m. in our Garden of the Seven Sisters Demonstration Garden at 2154 Sierra Way, San Luis Obispo. The topic will be “Vertical Vegetable Gardening.” The workshop is free and open to the public. Docents will be available after the workshop until 1:00 pm. If inclement weather, the workshop will be canceled.
You can view workshops on Instagram live at slo mg or visit our You Tube channel at “San Luis Obispo County UC Master Gardeners.”
Visit our website at ucanr.edu/sites/mgslo/ or email questions to anrmgslo@ucanr.edu.
UCCE Master Gardener Helpline offices:
San Luis Obispo: 805-781-5939 (Monday and Thursday 1:00 to 5:00)
Arroyo Grande: 805-473-7190 (Wednesday 10:00 to 12:00)
Templeton: 805-434-4105 (Wednesday 9:00 to 12:00)