9 Chicken-Theme Plants for Your Garden or Windowsill

Many plants have names that refer to chickens. Some are essentially weeds like the chickweed that tries to take over my garden. Others are ornamentals like hen and chicks, which grow either indoors or out. Here are nine fun chicken-theme plants to grow in your garden or on your windowsill.

Hen and Chicks

The most well known of the chicken-theme plants is hen and chicks. Actually it is not a specific type of plant but one of many flowering succulent perennials in the stonecrop (Crassulaceae) family. Members of this group grow in rosettes that reproduce by developing side buds.

The original rosette is the hen. The tiny new rosettes surrounding the hen are the chicks. Eventually the chicks set down roots, and then begin budding off chicks of their own. The result is an ever-widening mat of rosettes. Juice from the leaves is like aloe vera in its ability to sooth burns and insect bites.

When a hen reaches 3 years old or more, a stalk — sometimes referred to as a rooster — rises upward from the center and develops blossoms that may be white, yellow, pink, or red, depending on the species. After the flowers produce seeds, the mother hen dies, leaving behind her brood of thriving chicks.

Most hen and chicks are of the genus Sempervivum, which prefers dry conditions, grows well in poor soil, and can survive cold winters. They are also popular as house plants. You can find potted starter plants at most garden centers and online marketplaces. Or you might be lucky enough to get a start from a friend or neighbor.

Cockscomb

My grandmother kept a flock of Rhode Island Reds (which inspired my love of chickens) and tended a sizable garden that included lots of flowers. Among those I remember best are the red cockscombs, or rooster’s combs. The formal name is Celosia (Celosia cristata).

The odd blossom is long, narrow, and rumpled like a pea comb. The traditional variety is red, like my grandmother’s, although these days you can find them in pink, orange, yellow, or white.

Cockscomb is easy to grow and reseeds freely. It likes full sun and well drained soil, and is hardy and resistant to most diseases. It is a member of the amaranth family, and many countries serve the leaves and flowers as vegetables.

Rooster Spur

Rooster Spur is a rare heirloom hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) that gets its name from the peppers’ size and shape, looking much like a rooster’s spurs. These chicken-theme plants are easy to grow and attractive enough to grow as ornamentals. The best use for these peppers, which rate 30,000 to 50,000 on the Scoville scale, is to dry and grind them into chili powder.

Chicken Heart

Chicken Heart, or hinkelhatz (Capsicum annuum), is another rare heirloom pepper. The size and shape of this pepper resembles a chicken’s heart. Compared to other hot pepper plants, hinkelhatz is more cold tolerant, up to the point of hard frost.

The peppers have thick juicy flesh that rates 5,000 to 30,000 on the Scoville scale, like cayenne pepper. They are used mainly for brine pickling, but are also made into pepper vinegar or hot sauce (hatz sauce?) similar to Tabasco.

Chicken Gizzard

Chicken gizzard (Iresine herbstii) is another name for bloodleaf, a plant with bright red foliage and puckered leaves shaped something like a chicken’s gizzard. Thanks to the showy foliage, these chicken-theme plants primarily add contrast to borders and flower beds.

The tender perennial likes full sun, warm temperatures, and high humidity. It grows outdoors year around in USDA hardiness zones 10 and 11. In other zones chicken gizzard is an annual or an attractive houseplant.

Fresh new plants easily start from cuttings. Potted starter plants are available at many garden centers and online marketplaces. If you’re lucky, you might get a snip from a friend or neighbor.

Chickweed

While some folks rigorously root out common chickweed (Stellaria media) growing in the garden, others welcome it or even grow it on purpose. If you are the latter, you might add it to your salads, or cook and serve it like spinach. If you are the former, at least let your chickens enjoy the pulled weeds. Chickens love chickweed — leaves, flowers, seeds, and all — which where it gets its name.

Each plant develops numerous stalks that spreads thickly along the ground and produce small white blossoms. At night and in rainy weather, like a good mother hen, the chickweed plant folds its leaves to protect tender buds and new shoots.

Eggplant

Early eggplants (Solanum melongena) imported from China into Europe produced small yellow or white fruits that were about the size and shape of an egg, hence the name eggplant — a term used for both to the plant and the fruit it bears. Today the most common eggplant looks like an oversize pear and is deep purple.

Eggplants are closely related to tomatoes and bell peppers, and are grown in much the same way. Varieties are now available in many colors that include white, green, orange, purple, lavender, and striped and in shapes that range from the size of a large zucchini to that of a hen’s egg. Unlike real eggs, eggplants are highly perishable; in the fridge they keep well for only a few days.

Hen and Chicken Fern

The evergreen hen and chicken fern (Asplenium bulbiferum) gets its name from its production of small bulb-like growths on top of the fronds. Several plantlets hatch from each brown egg-like bulbil and, when they reach a length of about 2 inches, fall to the ground to take root. The fern also reproduces by spores, but not as easily as it hatches chicks. Other names for this plant are mother fern, mother spleenwort, and parsley fern.

Hen and chicken fern is usually a houseplant that thrives in low light. In the garden, it does well in hardiness zones 9 through 11. It likes shade or partial sun, prefers a northern exposure, and needs protection from frost, wind, drought, and full sunlight. Both the roots and uncurled young fronds may be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The fronds taste something like asparagus, only a little bitter.

The original fern has been crossed with a related fern to create a sterile hybrid known as false hen and chickens (Asplenium lucrosum). Although they don’t produce spores, they develop more plantlets than true hen and chickens, so fern dealers find them highly lucrative — hence the scientific name lucrosum. Both ferns are available as potted plants at many garden centers and online marketplaces.

Golden Chicken Fern

One of the lesser known chicken-theme plants is the golden chicken fern (Cibotium Barometz). It gets its name from its slow-growing rhizome, which is covered with shiny golden-brown hairs that look like the feathers of a buff Silkie. Other names for this plant are woolly fern, golden moss, and Scythian lamb.

In the wild, the golden chicken fern may grow upright to a height of about 3 feet, with fronds spanning as much as 10 feet. Or the stem may grow sideways and form trailing colonies of plants. As a houseplant, though, it consists only of the rhizome with the stem cut off.

The rhizome hairs will sooth insect stings and, as a styptic, also stop bleeding. The inner part of the rhizome has anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties. A diluted solution controls aphids and spider mites.

Although the fern is becoming rare in the wild, the unique beauty of the golden chicken fern ensures a wide enough distribution to secure its survival. You can find it at some garden centers and online marketplaces.