The Painted Lady Echeveria, otherwise known as the Echeveria Derenbergii or Painted Lady, Baby Echeveria, is a rather well known cactus/succulent plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this cactus/succulent will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its blue-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Painted Lady Echeveria Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Painted Lady Echeveria can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Painted Lady Echeveria needs you to maintain moist but not soggy soil at all times.
- Light: Keep your Echeveria Derenbergii in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Painted Lady Echeveria in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand and loam.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Painted Lady Echeveria will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Painted Lady Echeveria belongs to the Crassulaceae family, the genus Echeveria and the species Derenbergii, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Echeveria Derenbergii (Ech-eh-VER-ee-a der-en-BERG-ee-eye).
As with other Echeveria’s, the Painted Lady Echeveria is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year-round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Echeveria Derenbergii is native to Mexico.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful (you can use our index to learn about other plants’ native regions), as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Painted Lady Echeveria. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Echeveria Derenbergii will be most used to the heat zones in the 10 – 12 region.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Painted Lady Echeveria is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Painted Lady Echeveria actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Echeveria Derenbergii can grow up to 3″ – 4″ (7cm – 10cm) in 3″ – 4″ (7cm – 10cm) and 1′ – 3′ (30cm – 90cm) in 1′ – 3′ (30cm – 90cm).
These dimensions make the Painted Lady Echeveria a relatively medium cactus/succulent compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful mounding shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 12″ (30cm) free so the Painted Lady Echeveria can spread to its best extent.
Watering
In terms of watering, the Painted Lady Echeveria is a fairly complicated plant to take care of. This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Echeveria Derenbergii needs you to maintain moist but not soggy soil at all times. Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Painted Lady Echeveria in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Painted Lady Echeveria since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
The Painted Lady Echeveria’s ideal soil potting mix is made out of sand and loam.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Painted Lady Echeveria requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this cactus/succulent will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Echeveria Derenbergii in
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Painted Lady Echeveria will be present year round in your garden. But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
In particular, this cactus/succulent is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Painted Lady Echeveria produces some beautiful yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Painted Lady Echeveria have a beautiful blue-green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Painted Lady Echeveria is well known for being able to attract hummingbirds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Echeveria Derenbergii will be fine.
Garden
Does your Painted Lady Echeveria have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Echeveria Derenbergii owners agree that this cactus/succulent will look great in most rustic and xeric gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of gravel and rock garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Painted Lady Echeveria’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a container, or a rock garden.
Companion Plants
Painted Lady Echeveria’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Festuca glauca, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Delosperma will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Painted Lady Echeveria in your garden or home.
