Variegated Succulents…Who Knew?!

After seeing Louise’s post on her latest succulent container, I decided to see if my Home Depot had gotten in a new shipment of succulents. And they had! With three varieties of succulents I had never seen before.

I love variegated foliage. I appreciate it when a plant is more than just a flash in the pan with gorgeous flowers and nothing else to offer. These are definitely more than a flash in the pan.

Aeonium arboreum ‘Tricolor’

Aeonium spp.

Crassula obliqua ‘Tricolor Jade’

August 31, 2008 | Filed Under Succulents and Cacti | 7 Comments

How to Plant a Succulent Container

Earlier this week I noticed that an extra sedum I had purchased was not looking very happy in the pot it was in. I decided that it probably needed more light than the location it was in and also, was probably root bound. I gathered up some other leftover succulents and decided to combine them in a container my aunt had given me (I think it was formerly the home of a bonsai).

This container isn’t as “full” as I normally like, in part because I was using what I had and also because I wanted to give some of the smaller plants room to grow. Also, I wouldn’t normally have planted such a large sedum (the plant on the left, marked ‘A’ in the photo below) in this size pot, but as I said before, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Anyway, I thought I would explain my thought process on this container:

I first planted the Sedum (A) in the bottom left of the pot because it was the biggest plant and it is usually easiest to get the largest guy in the pot first, and then work around him.
Next, I planted the Crinkle Leaf Plant (B) in the upper right corner, because it is the second largest plant and also because I wanted it in that exact spot for visual ballance. It is also the tallest plant and I thought it would look best towards the back.
Next I planted the Andromischus marianae (C) and turned it around in that spot several times until I thought it had its best face forward (as this pot is going to be primarily viewed from the front). I chose to put it in the back because it was taller as well.
Next, I plucked a bunch of babies from a Mamillaria fragilis cactus (D) and made a little cluster in the middle of the remaining space. This particular cactus reproduces by making tons of babies around the edges of its clump, so I know that these guys will eventually be a bit larger and will fill in the rest of the exposed dirt.
Finally, I placed the “chicks” from an unknown variety of Hens and Chicks (E) in the corner and gave each one a bit of room to grow. The “hen” is a little smaller than a baseball, so I know these guys will get bigger and might even outgrow the space.

Here are some more examples of succulent containers I’ve planted with a similar strategy. I think you’ll get the best results if you think about how you want to plant the pot before you start, keeping in mind how the pot will be viewed (from the top, the side, the front, from all around, etc) and trying with a goal of how you want the pot to look (balanced, symmetrical, off-center, etc).

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My Grandma’s Cactus

In my post last week about my Grandma I mentioned this weird cactus that she’s had for decades. When she relandscaped her yard, she put it in the garage and forgot about it, only to find in three months later, still alive! I was over at my grandparents’ house today and I snapped a photo. Does anyone know what kind of cactus it is?

$Grandma\'s Cactus$

July 28, 2008 | Filed Under Succulents and Cacti | 6 Comments

Designing Containers With Succulents

Succulents are all the rage right now and for good reason. They’re good looking, drought tolerant, and many are easy to grow. Designing a pot featuring succulents is no different than designing a pot with “regular” plants; you still need thrillers, fillers, and spillers.

You do need to take into consideration a few special points in the actual planting process though. Succulents like good drainage, now is not the time to use a pot without a drainage hole. You’ll also want to use a fast draining soil, preferably one designed for cacti and succulents. I have started using my own mixture of two parts soil-less potting mix to one part sand.

Finally, be sure to take into consideration the amount of light your balcony gets. I have a couple of Echeveria and an Aloe that do not like full sun conditions. Not all succulents are sun lovers. I found this out the hard way when the sun scortched burn marks on their leaves and killed some of my other succulents. If I had just read the plant tags more closely…

Here are a couple of my succulent containers:

This pot features my current favorite succulent, Kalanchoe “Flapjacks,” there in the back. He’s the guy with the red tinged upright leaves. To his left is a Sempervivum arachnoideum (”Hens and Chicks”), aptly named “Spiderweb.” To the right of the Kalanchoe is “Burros Tail,” one of the first plants I ever owned, a cutting from my grandma’s garden. In the front, a sedum spilling over the edge of the pot.

What I tried to do here is what I try to do with every container I plant: find a thriller (the Kalanchoe), compliment it with some fillers (in this case, the Sempervivum and the Burros Tail) and then finish it off with an appropriate spiller (the Sedum). I’m not always as successful as I think (hope?) I was here. But ever since reading about the thriller, filler, spiller idea I’ve had a lot more success with creating nice looking containers.

This is another container (same pot from Ikea to help create a cohesive display) with a an unknown (the pot was mislabeled) dusty rose colored succulent and an unknown variety of aeonium serving as the thrillers in the back. To the right is another one of my favorite succulents, Anacampseros telephiastrum “sunrise,” which has yellow leaves tinged with magenta (filler). In front of the Anacampseros is another Sempervivum (filler). In the front, left side of the pot is a different variety of Sedum (spiller). Finally, on the left side of the pot is a Mammillaria cactus (filler).

I admit that in this pot I was trying to use up some random succulents I had around, but I did try and use plants that were blue-green or pink so that the container didn’t look too haphazard.

July 21, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening, Gardening in Full Sun, How To, Succulents and Cacti | 3 Comments