A must see article for Succulent Lovers!

This message was edited Tuesday, Mar 26th 6:27 PM

YES they certainly are gorgeous''Now to find the time to make one,lol'

I saw that too. I'm going to make some smaller ones to go around the pole of the outside table. (My husband wouldn't like the soggy door wreath idea.) what I can't figure out is a better non-degradable wrap for the form to keep some moisture in. Any thoughts?

I just made 10 of those today. They shouldn't end up soggy, you take them off the door to water them, and keep them flat while not in use, and they certainly don't take much time to make up. You do need at least 50 pieces of plants that not big and clunky. We will be selling 50 of these at the Huntington Gardens so I have been very busy. Norma

Have the issue right here - need to find the frame thing tho. They were beautiful!!!

Do you have any one in the family/friends with a soder iron, and some good wire snips? If so you might want try using coast hangers. Norma

Norma. Our door is metal, so it's not just the soggy, but the frame scratching that is the issue.
What do you wrap the forms in?
To the person looking for a frame,contact your local florist who might keep them in stock for funeral moss work, -or a good wholesale contact is Riverside. (go to the net, search for topiary forms and they will jump up.) they are in upperstate new york. They might sell you a bunch at a given price.
barbara

I buy mine at a national supplier, but I buy 100 at a time.
My style is different than the one shown in Better Homes and Gardens, I will be making up the 10" size, I would have rather had the 8" size which a candle fits around nicely.
You may also get a long salome piece of moss wrapped with netting which you can join together with florest pins, and make it any size or shape that you desire. Oh, I just remember Mosser Lee supplies in the East, Western Cactus in the West in Vista, CA The ship all over the world.
I have a list of suggested succulents to use put together by Ernst van Jaarsveld of Africa. We use very small species, and dainty. I use the same method, poke holes with a pencil and keep it flat until the roots have grown.
I use some of the following, Ovata, variety agentea, Crassula pruinosa, Echeveria, Semps, all kinds of colorful Sedum if you need a list email me privately. Anything that will give it color, especially during the month of December. Sedum 'Christmas Cheer' red/green theme, I also have a grey and blue theme. Pinks, orange, red is fun, and makes me smile. Have fun, I certainly can print off the article on suggestions of plants to use and send it to all of you. Norma

Hey Norma. Thanks.Could you pass along the article please?
barbara

Another thing I tried, but didn't quite succeed at last year was sempervivum in those green grow bags. What I did was just plant the 8 or 10 holes they come with. Did quite well (after an initial on their back time!), but never did quite cover the bag up. I'm going to try again this year, but probably with about three times the holes.
Another problem that I had was that many of the smaller ones just dropped off, -almost like their roots were too weak. However, they were almost what I wanted.
Isn't that always the way with a project. Try again another year!
Barbara

There are several other magazines that have articles about succulents this month. Elizabeth Stewart's magazine also, and several others.
Should I print off the article and mail it? If so please send your address again. I still can't figure out how to use the scanner. Or should I just type and email it out bit by bit. There is also an old article in a CSSA journal that I could also copy off. I think it's okay, as I'm not selling anything. Norma

Barbara, I have two articles with black and white pictures, the book that I found them in, of course they were in color.
One from the Horticulture Magazine of American Gardening 1992
The other: Teddy Colbert, The Living Wreath Gibbs Smith, 1995 I believe is a book.

John Trager put this list together for the materials that you will need. White-hairy leaves = Sempervivum (they also come in all colors)arachnoideum 'Cebenense' cobweb houseleek or 'Cobweb' houseleek
Lime Green: Sedum pachyphyllum-'Jelly Beans' red-tipped in bright light, yellow flowers Sedum come in yel/red/gree/blue/orange/purple
Pink-Lavender-orange: Graptoveria paraguayense pink form
Graptosedum-'Vera Higgins'or other names this is called.
Sedum craigii-2" lavender egg-shaped leaves
Sedum nussbaumerianum-coppery orange 2" leaves
Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora' pink to orange and depending on
watering, light, soil
Red to purple:Crassula capitella 'Campfire'-scarlet red/orange if grown correctly
Crassula capitella ssp thyrsiflora 'Pagoda Village, red leaves
Crassula platyphylla v. nudicaulis burgundy/red
Crassula pubescens ssp. radicans red leaves'
Sedum rubrotinctum 'Christmas Cheer' red-blushed, glosssy
expecially colorful during winter (Christmas)
You may also use any dwarf aloe
I use small growing Echevieria a great deal, they come in all colors.
Crasula ovata v. old name agentea which has the smallest leaf
I just found Ernst van Jaarsveld list, it is for dish gardens. Today I used a red tipped Sempervivum, Crassula Ovata agentea, used of trailing Mesembryanthemaceae
Faucaria is great because they are in Flower Nov. Dec. Yellow flowers. Trichodiadema for a light look, fill in. Just take off the heads/tips of the plants that you have, make sure they are not too heavy to stay in. Florist pins may be of help, I have not tried a glue gun yet. Today I used a wood chinese skewer, it has a point, that is for making the hole for thin stemmed filler (C. pruinosa)

Mosser Lee 1715 284-2296 FAX 1715 284-44403 I don't think they will send out one at a time however. You must have a resale # and usually present your letter head as well. Well I don't think I left anything out. It does take practice, and about an hour to put together, gather your materials first. Norma

Barbara, what are green grow bags?
I'm not to great with Semps, just haven't got the hang of it yet. They get too many mealies, they seem to have a time consuming upkeep track record, much more so than the other plants I grow. I really like them, they are great for dish gardens, and wreaths, they sell well for the Huntington, so many of our visitors are from up north, I need things for them to bring back from the Huntington that will travel well, and are small enough.

Hi Norma. thanks for your great knowledge and replies. that's going to keep me working for a long time. I'll track down the magazines, -don't worry. And, I think I have that wreath book.
Green grow bags are pretty ugly things they came up with about 8 years ago to stick plugs into, grow flat, and then
hang from a nail. Lots of them are used with impatience, and ivy geraniums in the common trade.
They are about 18 8nches long, 6 inches wide, come prepunched with about 8 or 10 holes (only on the top side) and a large loop from which to hang them.
Tomorrow, I'll take a quick snap of one of these failures, to let you see and I'm sure improve on my performance.
If I can ever get it right, I like the 'crusted' appearance they take on.
Anyway, my digital doesn't have a flash. So, tomorrow I'll show you a grow bag with semps in daylight.
thanks so much for all your help!
Barbara

p.s. I think most semps are hardy right to the north of canada, let alone the banana belt where you guys play
Barbara