Pinwheel (Haworth's Aeonium)
Aeonium haworthii
Pinwheel (Haworth's Aeonium)
Aeonium haworthii
Ordering in autumn or winter? Many hardy exotics arrive dormant or cut back right now. This is normal, and the best time to plant.
Seasonal by nature: what to expect
- Grown outdoors, the way nature intended. Weather-tested and hardened in real UK conditions, so they thrive in your garden. A few marks on the older leaves are normal, the sign of a tough, real plant rather than a flaw.
- It follows the seasons. Depending on when you order, your plant may arrive cut back, dormant or leafless. That's healthy: dormancy is the ideal time to plant.
- Posted, not posed. Big leafy plants like bananas and gingers may be trimmed or gently folded to travel safely. It does the plant no harm, and it powers away again in spring.
Not sure what to expect from yours? Dormant, cut-back or weather-marked plants are all perfectly healthy and normal. Read what to expect through the seasons
The Aeonium haworthii, widely known as the Pinwheel or Haworth's Aeonium, is one of the most charming architectural succulents you can grow on a sunny British patio. Native to the Canary Islands, it forms a neat, freely branching dome of many small blue-green rosettes, each leaf finely edged in red, so a well grown plant looks like a cluster of spinning pinwheels. It is an easy, sculptural container plant that brings crisp, contemporary structure to any collection of hardy exotics.
This is a tender succulent, not a frost hardy one, and understanding that is the key to keeping it for years. Rated RHS H1C, it is happy outdoors through the warmer months but must be protected once temperatures fall. Bring it under frost-free cover before the first frosts and keep it almost dry while it is dormant, watering only enough to stop the rosettes shrivelling. Grow it in a gritty, free-draining mix, keep it on the dry side over winter, and move it to a bright, frost-free place such as a porch, cold greenhouse or windowsill before the first frosts.
How and where to grow
- Position: full sun for the tightest rosettes and the strongest red leaf edges, ideally in a sheltered, east or south facing spot.
- Soil: gritty, free-draining loam or sand based compost, and never leave it standing in water.
- Size: a compact, bushy habit reaching roughly 0.3 to 0.6 m tall and wide over many years.
- Hardiness: tender at RHS H1C, so keep it dry and frost-free through winter and it will reward you season after season.
Its drought tolerant nature makes it ideal for pots and containers and for dry and gravel gardens, where it thrives on sharp drainage and reflected warmth. The sturdy, salt tolerant rosettes also suit bright coastal and exposed gardens through summer, and the bold geometric form earns it a place among the best architectural foliage plants for a modern courtyard.
For a clear picture of how tender exotics like this behave across the seasons, see our guide on what to expect from hardy exotics. Every Pinwheel we supply is nursery-grown, selected for a healthy, well branched crown and a strong root system, and packed with care to arrive in superb condition.
Hardiness & Frost
Tender at RHS H1C, this is a frost-sensitive succulent. The main killer is not cold on its own but cold combined with wet: sitting in cold, waterlogged compost quickly rots the roots and rosettes. Grow it in gritty, free-draining compost, keep it dry over winter, and move it to a bright, frost-free place such as a porch, cold greenhouse or windowsill before the first frosts. Enjoy it outdoors in full sun through the warmer months only.
Sun & Aspect
Full sun, in a warm, sheltered spot ideally facing east or south. The brightest light keeps the rosettes tight and compact and brings out the red edges on the blue-green leaves.
Soil
Gritty, sharply free-draining loam or sand based compost. Add extra horticultural grit or perlite to open it up. Never let it sit in wet or waterlogged compost, especially in winter, as poor drainage is what leads to rot.
Watering & Establishment
Water sparingly and let the compost dry out almost completely between waterings. Give a little more through the growing season, then keep it nearly dry over winter. Overwatering, particularly in cold weather, is the commonest cause of losing a plant.
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No, Aeonium haworthii is a tender succulent rated RHS H1C, not a frost hardy plant. Grow it outdoors in full sun through the warmer months, then move it somewhere bright and frost-free for winter. The main danger is cold combined with wet, so keep it dry and out of waterlogged compost. See our hardy exotics guide for what to expect.
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Give it full sun, a gritty free-draining compost and only occasional water. It thrives in pots and containers and in dry and gravel gardens. Keep it nearly dry and frost-free over winter to avoid rot.
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Water sparingly, letting the compost dry out almost completely between waterings. Give a little more in the growing season, then keep it nearly dry through winter. Overwatering in cold weather is the commonest cause of losing the plant.
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Rot is almost always caused by cold, wet, waterlogged compost rather than cold alone. Grow it in a gritty, sharply draining mix, water sparingly, and keep it dry and frost-free in winter. Some lower leaves dropping as the rosettes grow is normal.
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Yes, it is an ideal container succulent and one of the best choices for pots and containers. A pot also makes it easy to move the plant to a bright, frost-free spot for winter, and its bold form suits architectural foliage displays.
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Aeonium haworthii is generally considered non-toxic to cats, dogs and people, with no reported serious toxicity. The sap may cause minor skin or stomach irritation in sensitive individuals, so it is still best kept out of reach and not eaten.
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Your plant will arrive in its nursery grow pot — the plastic pot it's been growing in. We don't include a decorative pot as standard, and there's a good reason for that: it means you get to choose one that fits your space and style, rather than being stuck with something that doesn't suit your home.
It also means you're not paying extra for a pot you might not want. The nursery pot is perfectly fine to keep your plant in for a while, just pop it inside a decorative cover pot or cache pot and you're good to go. When you're ready to repot (usually after a growing season or when roots start poking out the bottom), you can move it into something more permanent with fresh soil.
If you're not sure what size cover pot to go for, check the pot selector tool listed above, you'll want a decorative pot that's a centimetre or two wider than that to give it a comfortable fit. -
Every plant on our site includes the pot size (e.g. 12cm) and, where possible, an approximate height. That's the most reliable way to set your expectations, photos can sometimes make a plant look larger or smaller than it really is.
If you're thinking "that sounds quite small for the price," here's something worth knowing: younger, smaller plants almost always adapt better to your home than larger ones. They adjust faster to your light and humidity, put out new growth more quickly, and tend to establish stronger root systems long-term. A plant that grows into your space will usually outperform one that was already big when it arrived.
That said, every plant is an individual. The one you receive may vary slightly in height, shape, or fullness compared to the photo, that's the nature of living things, not a quality issue. We select healthy, well-established specimens, and if you ever feel your plant doesn't match what you were expecting, just get in touch and we'll take a look. -
There's a big difference between a plant that's been sitting under on a retail shelf and one that's been looked after and cared for by people who specialise in exactly this.
Our plants are grown in house or sourced from specialist nurseries, many of them varieties you simply won't find at your local garden centre or supermarket. Before anything leaves us, it's checked over by our horticultural team to make sure it's healthy, well-rooted, and ready to thrive in your home. We're not shifting volume off a pallet, we're choosing plants we'd want to keep ourselves.
When you buy from a supermarket, you get a plant and a generic care label. When you buy from us, you get the knowledge that comes with it, detailed care guidance, a team you can actually contact if something isn't going right, and the confidence that what's arriving has been looked after properly from the moment it was grown to the moment it reaches your door.
We're a specialist nursery first, not a retailer that happens to sell plants. That's the difference, and you'll see it the moment you open the box. -
First things first, unbox it as soon as you can. Plants don't love being in dark boxes any more than you would, and the sooner yours is out and breathing, the better.
Remove all the packaging carefully, give the soil a check with your finger, and water lightly if it feels dry. Then find it a spot with appropriate light, but avoid putting it straight into harsh direct sun or next to a radiator. Think of it like arriving somewhere new after a long journey: it needs a moment to adjust.
It's completely normal for your plant to look a little tired or droopy after transit. This is called transit stress, and most plants bounce back within a week or two. You might see a yellow leaf or some drooping, don't panic, and resist the urge to overwater or start repotting straight away.
Our advice for the first couple of weeks: leave it in its nursery pot, water it only when the top layer of soil feels dry, and let it acclimatise to your home's light, temperature, and humidity. Once it's settled in and showing signs of new growth, you can think about repotting or moving it to its permanent spot.
Every plant we sell comes with a care guide on the product page so you'll know exactly what it needs going forward. And if anything doesn't look right, get in touch with our team, we're always happy to help. -
Yes! and we go to serious lengths to make sure of it. Every plant is hand-packed by our team with protective wrapping and secure, custom-designed boxes to keep it stable and safe in transit. We've shipped hundreds of thousands of plants across the UK and our packaging methods have been refined over years to handle the bumps and jolts of delivery.
During colder months, we monitor weather forecasts and offer heat packs where needed to protect against frost. In extreme conditions, we may hold your order for a day or two rather than risk sending it out, we'd rather you wait an extra day than receive a stressed plant.
That said, plants are living things, and the occasional transit wobble can happen. If your plant arrives damaged or isn't in the condition you'd expect, just get in touch within 48 hours with a photo, and we'll make it right, whether that's a replacement or a full refund. No fuss.
The short version: we treat every box like it's going to someone who really cares about what's inside, because it is.
All plants are covered by our 7-day live arrival guarantee. We pack every order in protective, sustainable packaging designed to keep your plants safe in transit. Whether grown in our own nursery or sourced from trusted partner growers, every plant is checked before it ships. On the rare occasion something isn't right on arrival, we'll make it good, provided the plant is still in its original nursery pot.
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