Echeveria 'Lola' (Hybrid): Profile & Care

Echeveria 'Lola' is a hybrid cultivar bred by Dick Wright in California around 1980 from a cross of Echeveria derenbergii x Echeveria lilacina. It is not a wild species and has no natural population. The plant forms a tight stemless rosette 8 to 12 cm wide, with pale lavender-pink to grey-mauve obovate leaves that finish in a sharp red-pink terminal mucro. The lavender bloom comes from one parent, the firm point and red apex from the other, and the combination is responsible for the peach-pink-mauve colour shift that the plant runs through under different stress conditions.

Hybrid origin

Wright was a Crassulaceae breeder based in Fallbrook, California, and 'Lola' is one of his named selections from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The published cross is E. derenbergii x E. lilacina, both Mexican species in the same genus. From E. derenbergii the hybrid inherits the small tight rosette, the apiculate leaf tip, and a willingness to flower in spring; from E. lilacina it inherits the heavy lavender wax and the rounded leaf outline. Because 'Lola' is a cultivar of hybrid parentage, every plant in the trade descends from Wright's original line by vegetative propagation. Seed-grown plants segregate so heavily that none come true to the type, and 'Lola' is therefore never sold as seed-raised. Tissue-culture lines are common in commercial production and can drift over generations, which is one reason the plant labelled 'Lola' at one nursery does not always look quite like the plant labelled 'Lola' at another.

Part of the Complete Echeveria Guide.

Identification

A typical 'Lola' rosette in cultivation runs 8 to 12 cm across, sits stemless or on a very short stem, and holds its leaves in a tight but not closed cup. The leaves are obovate, 3 to 5 cm long, thick and softly fleshy, and finish in a hard pointed mucro inherited from E. derenbergii. The base colour shifts with light, water, and temperature: in moderate growth the rosette reads pale lavender-pink with a grey-mauve cast, a colour produced by the heavy waxy bloom over a green base. Cool nights and bright light push the leaves into peach-pink and mauve tones, and the mucro and the apical thumbprint of each leaf flush red-pink to coral. In low light or warm dim winters the rosette flattens out to a uniform pale grey-green and the colour shift is lost.

Two characters separate 'Lola' from its parents. From E. lilacina it differs by the firm pointed mucro and by the red-pink leaf tips: pure E. lilacina leaves end in a soft rounded apex with no point, and the colour holds steady at a flat lavender across the season with little stress shift. From E. derenbergii it differs by the heavy lavender bloom and the larger, broader leaves: E. derenbergii is greener, smaller (rosettes 5 to 7 cm), and more prolific in clumping, and its red leaf tips sit on a clearly green-grey leaf. Set a 'Lola' next to both parents and the hybrid sits between them in size, between them in colour, and reads as an obvious intermediate.

The harder confusion is with similar hybrids in the trade. Echeveria 'Perle von Nürnberg' is a cross of E. gibbiflora x E. potosina: it is larger, 10 to 18 cm across, with a clear bronze-purple cast and no lavender. The two are easy to tell apart on size and on hue. Echeveria 'The Rose' is a small peach-coral hybrid genuinely close to 'Lola' in appearance, and it is widely mis-sold as 'Lola' in supermarkets and online. 'The Rose' reads warmer, more peach and less lavender, and the leaf tips are softer with less of a sharp mucro. If a plant labelled 'Lola' has no firm point at the leaf tip and no lavender wax, it is almost certainly 'The Rose' or a related warm-pink hybrid under a popular label.

A short scape of bicoloured bell-shaped flowers in spring confirms the identification. The flowers are 1 to 1.5 cm long, orange-yellow on the outside and yellow at the throat, carried in a small cincinnus on a 15 to 20 cm stalk. They are similar in shape to E. derenbergii flowers but slightly larger and more uniformly bicoloured.

Cultivation

Light is the main lever for the colour 'Lola' is grown for. Four to six hours of direct sun, after a careful acclimation in spring, holds the rosette tight and brings the lavender wax and the red leaf tips to their full intensity. A south or southeast aspect with light afternoon shade through midsummer suits it outdoors in temperate climates. Indoors, an unobstructed south or east window is the working setup. Under fluorescent or weak east light the rosette opens, the colour washes out to grey-green, and the apex no longer flushes red.

Water is conventional for the genus with one note: the heavy waxy bloom on 'Lola' is fragile, and visible water marks are a permanent disfigurement until the leaf is shed. Water deeply once the top 3 cm of substrate reads dry, and water the substrate around the rosette rather than the rosette itself. In warm growth that is roughly every 10 to 14 days for a 9 cm pot at 22 °C to 28 °C. In winter, drop to a single light watering every 4 to 6 weeks, or hold dry if the plant sits below 8 °C. Wet leaves under cool conditions invite crown rot and water marks; dry, well-aired plants take cool winters without issue.

Substrate runs at 65% to 75% mineral fraction. Pumice or 3 to 6 mm lava grit with a peat-free loam-based compost as the organic component is the working blend. The pot should dry inside a 48 hour window after a thorough watering. A 9 to 11 cm terracotta pot suits a single mature rosette; the slow growth rate of 'Lola' means a repot every 2 to 3 years is enough.

Temperature tolerance is moderate. Active growth runs from 8 °C to 28 °C. The frost limit on dry plants is around minus 2 °C; below that, leaf-tip damage and crown rot are likely. 'Lola' is therefore not a candidate for unprotected outdoor culture in regions where winter night temperatures drop below freezing. Bring it under cover or indoors before the first frost. In summer above 32 °C, give afternoon shade and ventilation; the wax holds up to heat well, but the substrate should not bake dry to powder for weeks at a time.

Feeding is light. One dilute, low-nitrogen feed in mid-spring covers most plants for a season. For a baseline watering and feeding rhythm before tuning to this cultivar, the beginner's guide to succulents sets out the method that the notes above adapt to 'Lola'.

Propagation

Vegetative propagation is the only acceptable method for keeping 'Lola' true. Three vegetative routes work, in this order of reliability.

Offset division is the cleanest. 'Lola' produces offsets less freely than its E. derenbergii parent, so plan on 1 to 3 rooted offsets per mature plant per year. Once an offset is rooted and a third the width of the parent, twist or cut it free, callus the wound for 5 to 7 days in shade, and resume light watering after about two weeks on dry mineral mix. Success runs above 90% on rooted offsets.

Leaf propagation works but is slower and less reliable than for E. elegans or E. derenbergii. A clean sideways twist is required; torn leaves usually rot before producing a plantlet. Callus the leaf for 5 to 7 days, set on barely damp pumice in bright shade at 21 °C to 25 °C, and expect a plantlet within 4 to 8 weeks at a success rate of around 50% to 70%. The young plant takes 6 to 9 months to reach a 5 cm rosette.

Stem cuttings from older, drawn plants are the third route. If a 'Lola' has been kept in low light and has put out a stem with a lifted rosette, decapitate the rosette, callus the cut for 7 to 10 days, and root the head on dry mix; the stub usually sends out a flush of new offsets at the cut site within 6 to 10 weeks. This is the standard method for resetting a stretched plant.

Seed is not a viable route. As a wide hybrid between two parent species, 'Lola' does not come true from seed. Even when self-fertilised the offspring segregate so widely that none reliably resemble the named clone. Anyone selling Echeveria Lola seeds is selling a mislabelled product or a random Echeveria outcross.

Notes

Provenance matters in the trade. The two reliable separators for a true 'Lola' are the firm red-tipped mucro on each leaf and the heavy lavender wax. A rosette without the point is most likely 'The Rose' or another peach-pink hybrid sold under a popular name; a rosette without the lavender cast is probably an E. derenbergii selection or a different hybrid entirely. Tissue-culture stock circulating since the 2000s has introduced visible drift in the trade; if you are buying for a reference collection, look for cuttings from an established grower with a known provenance line back to Wright's original material.

Pests are conventional for the genus. Mealybugs hide in the dense crown and at offset bases and need a check every season. The fragile wax means insecticide sprays leave visible residue, so a 70% isopropyl alcohol swab on a cotton bud at the affected sites is preferable to a foliar spray. Aphids appear on the spring scape and clear with a soft hose rinse.

'Lola' is not toxic to humans, dogs, or cats in any meaningful sense.

See also

• Complete Echeveria Guide — genus-level substrate, light, and propagation principles.
• Echeveria 'Perle von Nürnberg' — a larger bronze-purple hybrid often shelved next to 'Lola' in shops.
• Echeveria 'The Rose' — the warm peach-coral hybrid most often mis-sold under the 'Lola' label.