Senecio barbertonicus is a dense bushy perennial shrub reaching heights of 0.5-1.8 m. It is an evergreen succulent with all plant parts glabrous. This evergreen succulent “bush” adds a lot of texture to your outdoor succulent garden.
Senecio barbertonicus, named after one of its native localities Barberton, is a closely leafy succulent shrub that produces clusters of sweetly scented, golden yellow, tufted flower heads in winter and produce seeds with a dense tuft of bristles. But the most attractive features of this plant are its finger-like leaves pointing upwards along the branches. It is one of the least specialised and most common of the finger-leaved Senecios. Senecio barbertonicus grows predominantly in grassland and among rocks in shade of low open canopy forest of west coast. The plant tends to scramble over rocks and other trees and bushes. The environment we have here has a hot and dry climate, with fairly good rains in Summer followed by prolonged drought, and temperatures near freezing in Winter.
Partial sun generally means less than six and more than four hours of sun per day. Plants for partial sun will do well in a location where they receive a break from the sun each day. They like the sun but will not tolerate a full day of it and need at least some shade each day.
When it comes to fertilizers, you want to avoid over-fertilizing (just like an overdose of vitamins isn't great for us, either). Less is more, so it’s important to follow what the package says for application amounts.
Dead or dying sections of the plant can encourage pest infestation or disease. Removing these not only makes your houseplant look better, but reduces the risk of further problems down the line.
It is cultivated in open air in the tropical and warm Mediterranean climate, with temperatures which it is good to keep over the 5°C, best 10-12°C, but can withstand light frost for short periods if very dry (hardy down to -4º C, even if with damage to the foliage) in these situations it will better resist if sheltered by the winter rains, seen that the humidity and low temperatures render it more sensitive to rottenness.
