Kind of strange

[Bigsmoke]

Besides being the land of fruits, nuts and flakes, Kalifornia also has some kinda strange looking plants.
We planted this succulent in a strawberry planter of all things, maybe 3 or 4 years ago.  Who knows, time flies when you're having fun.  It has grown somewhat beyond our expectations.  This year it developed this enlargement filled with little succulent blossoms.  I noticed about 3 weeks ago that there are 3 honeybees always working it, not 2, not 4, but 3.  Day in-day out.  Anyway, for your amusement and edification, here it is:







Right there at the top of the plant is one of the little worker bees.

As you can tell, it is a slow day here in sunny CA.

John

[greyhunter]

[Uncle Russ]

John, I found the worker Bee! (which is surprising to me.)

Kinda strange plant indeed!
Even stranger is that I have seen that same, or very similar, plant before...not sure if it was at one of the kids house in Gallup, NM, or in El Paso TX either way, I have always thought it is a pretty neat plant.
 
I can't remember the details but it seems it was in one of those "Hen & Chicks" or "Hen & Diddles"  pots, where there's a open top and holes on the side of the pot, or small barrel, for the flowers to come through.

Uncle Russ...

[Bigsmoke]

Russ,
Never heard of Hen and Diddles pots.
Always called them strawberry pots.
I think they are one in the same, but with a different name.
John

[Uncle Russ]

Russ,
Never heard of Hen and Diddles pots.
Always called them strawberry pots.
I think they are one in the same, but with a different name.
John

John, you're probably right about "Hen & Diddles"....
Anyway, as luck would have it, today I talked to my daughter-in-law in Gallup, NM to see if they were coming up on the 4th. and I asked her what that flower was (luckily I did have the right daughter-in-law!) and she confirmed "Hen & Chicks".
So I looked it up on google while we were talking and this is what I came up with...I believe the smaller "bulbs" are when it's going to seed, she said that only happens once in a great while and she wishes theirs, which is six or eight years old, would do that too.
Supposedly you can start with just one bloom, or one plant, which is "the Hen" and as time goes on the young "chicks" will create an almost carpet like cover.

Whatcha think?
Think maybe this could be it?
Like I said before, I like it and wish I could have some for the front yard, but we just don't have the weather for it.
Sempervivum - Hens and Chicks | Mountain Crest Gardensâ„¢

Uncle Russ...