A really, really bad worm phobia... don't let small children watch 1970s creature movies, please. :) Ok, so if I understand correctly; the compost I would be making would be 1. incomplete because of the lack of crawlies and my severely limited ingredient list, and 2. too much/inappropriate for my little containers, in any case. Thank you everybody for the good advice. Thanks for the link, gardengal48; I will hit that immediately. I'm sure I will thank you all again when I get snapdragons and sweet peas next summer.

I do think it is a Bromeliad. Did not know them to grow out side. Location, location ,location and you are way down there. The plant may be in a protected area. Their flowers are known (on that variety) to come out and as weeks go by - droop. You can see a different variety in grocery stores etc., with a a long single spike flower straight up. Some have purple leaves. I would go with the computer to see the different ones and maybe add more cousins to buddy with this one. Oh, by the way, I known a guy that WILL NOT have an orange flowering plant in his yard. ME ? , I love them all - never - found a trash plant yet. I do have a hit list tho. All in all you are having fun....you will learn where those water pipes are as you go. Don't forget your field lines and septic( if you have one) when planting those trees. Take a hammock break when needed. Your pictures are great.

Ok. I'm starting to get a feel for this and now I think I have an idea. I came home today from a day trip and looked at my firebush, both look good, the same actually. Now I remember something I didn't share with you. I used a water soluble flower bloom fertilizer on them the other day when I was putting some on my hibiscus. I'm thinking they got blooms, it should be good for them? After the rains today, I think they got flushed and were looking good. I'm gonna have to start paying a little closer attention to what I'm doing. Good process of thrashing this problem out though. Do they make cheap PH meters or is there a kit, I have no clue on what I have in my yard or how to measure it?

I am in colder zone, but temps in Summer are quite god. Succulents are outdoors, in full sun, whole day. You could have bit of 'microclimate' - if there is solid surface on your terrace; otherwise most succulents will probably enjoy the sunlight. Exceptions would be most Haworthias - they don't need such strong sunlight. Do you have list of succulents you want to get? Some other plants may prefer bit of dappled sunlight around noon-time, when sunlight is strongest. When are you planning on putting them outdoors? I do not put leaves and rootless cuttings into strong sunlight until they grew roots, and always acclimatize them first.