Stairway Succulents

Aeoniums,
Portulacaria afra,  Graptosedum

 

This use of succulents cool down the hot, sun-soaked stairway. Repeating the same succulents in each pot ties the whole design together.

Interestingly, the elephant food plant or portulacaria afra is an excellent carbon sponge.

Succulent Sunday

Some beautiful succulents in planted in containers.  Their colors were perfect of a cool fall evening.

Thinking about Succulents

I'm planning a succulent garden addition.  Looking around for inspiration.

I Heart Succulents

The darling of the California garden, the succulent is a plant we love.  Remember the song about never raining in California?  That's what makes the succulent the plant du jour.  With our limited water resources, the thoughtful gardener will use plants which need less water such as succulents.  Succulents can grow during spring and summer with a weekly watering.

Three Stunning Arrangements of Succulents

Trips to the garden shop can be a source of inspiration for our own gardens.  After seeing these fabulous arrangements, resistance was futile.  A new succulent garden patch is in my future.

Things I love about these arrangements:

• Arrangement 1. The plant with the tall yellow flower spikes.
• Arrangement 2.  Is it the '80s again.  I love the mauve tones and with the contrasting greens in the arrangement.
• Arrangement 3.  Everything?  The moss, the girth of the hanging basket, the center plants with the creamy, green and red leaves.

Things I don't love about succulents at the garden shop.  So many are names "succulent" with no indication of any further identification.

Walls of Succulents

If you have been following garden trends in the glossy garden periodicals, you will have noticed over the past few years a growing trend of the vertical garden.  We have Patrick Blanc, the creator of the vertical garden, to thank.  These gardens of green which defy the conventional horizontal garden, can be found both indoors and out.  They seem to be a natural for urban environments as the wall adds soothing and appealing green to the concrete jungle as well as providing a cooling cover for buildings baking in the sun. 

A few years ago, articles on architects including these walls in their buildings started to appear.  Now you can find these walls appearing on everyday buildings.  The boutique and event venue, The Humble Abode on Avenida del Mar in San Clemente, has a wonderful vertical garden at their entrance.  

The wall is usually built out from the integral wall of the building with wood or metal frames covered with chicken wire and some sort of growing medium.  An article in the New York Times describes how Flora Grubb, a California landscape designer, used epiphytic air plants (tillandsias), which do not need a growing medium, clipped onto metal rods.

Succulents Popular Indoors and Outdoors

With the focus on water wise planting in California, I've been watching a trend develop over the past few seasons. Succulents are becoming a prominent plant group both indoors and out.

Succulents are the New Black

As water concerns in California continue to build, smart gardeners are embracing gardening which is not so reliant on water. Roger's Gardens, a premier gardening shop in Orange County, has been conducting seminars called Gardening Naturally on the weekend to learn how to garden with Nature.

Succulents are becoming more prevalent in landscape design. New installations showcase these hardy, drought tolerant plants.