IN OUR SUMMER-DRY CLIMATE, plants like succulents that require little water and look good year-round, are valuable members of our gardens. There are many different types of succulents. Sizes range from massive shrublike prickly pear cactus that can grow above our heads to the low-growing, rosette-shaped echeverias, succulents native to Mexico and Central America that can be only a few inches tall.

Echeveria are different than the sempervivum (also called hen and chicks) they closely resemble. Echeveria are from alpine regions in southern, central and western Europe and often grow between rocks. They are generally hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 to 11 and need frost protection in colder climates, while hen and chicks are hardy to zone 3.

If you want to grow them outside, you will want to choose the best type for your particular hardiness zone. The two types look similar, but the echeverias are showier and more diverse in form and size.

Echeveria and sempervivum are some of the easiest to grow and showiest succulents. Echeveria leaf rosettes resemble waxy water lilies, fleshy double roses or even camellias, while some look like sea anemone.

They come in many forms - from those that have small, tight, green rosettes a few inches tall or wide to those with huge showy rosettes 1 to 2 feet wide and 14 inches or more tall.

Leaf color choices are abundant and include opalescent hues with hot pink edges, lime green, red, pink, aquamarine, silver and sunset-colored, with new colors and combinations coming out each year.

The leaf shapes vary greatly between the many species and cultivars available. Some leaves are broad and spoon-shaped, while others are pointed. Some are wavy, some thin and others are thick. Rosettes can be tightly packed with leaves, while others are more open.

At home in the ground or in a pot, echeverias and sempervivum are obliging garden subjects. Many need protection from hot afternoon sun except in coastal areas where full sun is beneficial. Remove any leaf litter that accumulates on plants.

Sempervivum are perfect for difficult places like dry shady areas and small crevices or planters. They can form tightly packed colonies that look like clustered sea anemones.

Sempervivums especially, can act as small-scale groundcovers in the right conditions. Rooty conditions under redwoods are not the best places for these plants. Both need well-drained soil whether in a pot or in the ground, but some of our native soils, such as Sebastopol’s Gold Ridge loam, suit them well without the need for amendment.

Sempervivum and echeveria flowers are highly attractive. Echeveria have the most showy and dramatic flowers. Thin, arching stalks with dangling pink or salmon-pink bells rise vertically from the rosettes in midsummer through fall, with the pink hues complementing the leaf colors.

Sempervivum flowers are small and can be composed of upward-facing bells or are clustered on small, thick stalks.

Many echeveria and sempervivum produce offsets called “pups” or “chicks” from the plant base that increase the plant colony size. Offsets broken off with the stem attached can be potted to form new plants. One plant can easily become many.

Sempervivum and echeveria are monocarpic. After individual plants flower, they die. New offsets usually soon fill any gaps in many species and cultivars.

You do need to remove dead or declining rosettes, but otherwise, they need almost no maintenance. The fancy ruffled echeveria hybrids do not form offsets and plants will decline over time. The stems elongate and become unsightly.

The secret to keeping these plants viable is to behead them. Cut the stalk a few inches below the lower leaves. Put the rosette in an empty pot in the shade so the head rests on the pot rim. New roots should soon form on the cut end. When they do, it is ready to pot. The old plant will grow new rosettes on the stem. They can be broken off and will root if placed on the surface of a pot filled with soil.

In gardens, echeveria or sempervivums can be combined with other succulents to form showy and arresting gardens, or they can be used exclusively in pots or planters.

Mixing cultivars and species creates an artistic effect. They are perfect as edging in a bed, grouped or dotted about in a rock garden. They combine well with many drought-tolerant California native plants like manzanitas, California buckwheat or with drought-tolerant plants from other regions of the world. Many are deer-resistant, all are fire-resistant and bees love them.

Kate Frey’s column appears every other week in Sonoma Home. Contact Kate at: katebfrey@gmail.com, freygardens.com, Twitter @katebfrey, Instagram @americangardenschool

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