When does a hen and chick plant flower?

Hen and chick plants only bloom when fully mature. Plants typically need about three years after planting before they flower, although stressing the plant by withholding water or pruning the roots may encourage slightly earlier flowerings.

Hen and chick plants consist of a large central rosette surrounded by several smaller rosettes. Each rosette typically lives for about three years and blooms shortly before dying. When blooming, rosettes send up a flowing stalk, which can rise more than a foot and features a purplish-red flower. After flowering the rosette and stalk both die, and the surrounding rosettes grow to occupy the bare spot.