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Cacti & Succulents

Beginner's Succulent Collection

Central_Cali369

14 years ago

I have just started landscaping with succulents this year after removing a large swath of lawn from the backyard. It's really a rewarding task, since they are so sculptural and require little care. I like lurking here and reading all of your posts. I always find tha I "need" a certain plant after seeing someone post a picture! lol This is a picture of the southern end of the succulent garden. The lawn was ripped out in early May and it was planted in late May (some of the plants were pre-existing).

{{gwi:47180}}

If any of you care to see photos of my small collection of aloes and agaves feel free to follow the link!

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for the flickr album

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Comments (6)

emerald1951
14 years ago
Hi very nice...sometimes I wish that I could have all kinda of plant like that in my yard, but here in minnesota, they would never last a winter and my house is small...darn
But I do have a few....hubby says a few to many....lol
thanks for posting the pictures, and sharing...
linda
joscience
14 years ago
Is the Agave gypsophila in the above picture? I really like that plant. I hadn't ever come across it before, but after reading a bit about it, I want one!

You've collected some really nice Aloes and some sweet Agaves too. I'm totally jealous that you can grow all of them in the ground!

The space really is looking nice. Give it a decade and it is going to be *amazing*! :-)
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Don't worry! Three of your four photos appear to show simple mechanical damage. It is common for succulents to have some breakage when they are on display as people pick over them; you may not notice it until you bring them home and it begins to scar over, but it is not going to kill the plant. As it grows, the damaged leaves will eventually be shed. Your cutting is very small, I don't know that it had a great chance of surviving to begin with. Did you water it? What kind of light was it getting? Also, your soil looks very dense. There's a lot you can do with potting mixes for succulents, but I would start with adding perlite or pumice to your soil in a 50/50 ratio.
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Central_Cali369
Original Author
14 years ago
Joscience, the A. Gypsophila is actually in a different spot in the yard. It's a little more tender so it's near the house, against a south facing wall. I found it at a big box store for about $20! I really wasn't planning to buy it, but the curvy leaves and powdery blue color made me bring it home!

Thanks for the compliments!

Josh
Jack Reynolds
14 years ago
Very nice indeed. You've given me a couple of ideas for my own yard. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I think I'm a little colder than you but I see Agaves in my neighborhood so I know they will live up here where I am.
Central_Cali369
Original Author
14 years ago
Jack, my place gets pretty cold too. Low 30s and an ocassional 29 are the norm here in the winter. Tender plants are near the house and in sheltered locations. Everything else was pretty much selected for being able to withstand those temperatures. I was getting tired of protecting plants in the winter (duranta, tecoma, hibiscus...). According to different sources, a majority of the plants I've planted would be able to survive a freeze down to the low 20s, some could live through colder temps. I know book knowledge and actual happenings are not always the same, but i figured that if I fear for a specific plant, I could always uproot it and place it in a heated shed for the duration of a prolonged freeze (like the 2007 freeze), then replant it the following spring. Good luck with your landscape!!!
norma_2006
14 years ago
I only talked of my own experience with temps. going down to 20F. We just didn't water, and if you keep your plants fairly dry, they won't freeze, for some reason we didn't even have bad leaf burn from the cold. I'm certainly not saying that you should push it however, just be sensible, the plants can't run in the garage. There was another freeze in the early 90tys, many growers lost their stock, the collectors and customers replaced them. This seems to be a close community here in So. Calif. so we all pitched in to help the growers. They have all been good to us and donated plants to our clubs during our shows and sales. San Diego was hit hard in that first freeze. Norma

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