California Gardeners' Succulents

We hijacked the thread below, and decided to start a new one.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/947737/

Whoo Hoo!

This is something I wish I had room for, spotted in a nursery in Petaluma.

Ima, and CA_Sue, Wow, I really like those planters. I have most of those succulents, too.
On the fountain, were the succulent planted in dirt, or shallow pots and placed there? I have a non working fountain that I'm now inspired to do something similar with.
Glad I stumbled on this thread!
WIB,
SW

That fountain was planted. Not sure what they do for the rainy winter and drainage issues. Here's another one I saw at the coast in the town of Halfmoon Bay.

This message was edited Feb 23, 2009 12:21 AM

This is my favorite container now for a couple of years but I had to pull out several things including the small gold sedum 'Ogon'. It got infested with mealies. So, I plan to leave the large aeonium and redo the soil and plants in the next few weeks.

uh, wow ! (with her jaw dropping) just gorgeous!

Lovely! Just lovely! I'll have to figure it out and do some thing similar. Seems like a sandy soil would work well in the dry fountain. Succulents don't need too much water. Will send photos, make it a project.
WIB,
SW

Oh, fun! Sue, I love your combos---I'm a huge fan of the "repurposed fountain" concept. I've seen a few done with trailing succulents like donkey-tail or string of pearls that look like water---just awesome.
A lot of my succulents look pretty ratty now from the cold& wet, but this is one of my favorites. I keep it in a sheltered spot so it looks fairly decent year-round. It needs a little trimming, but that will have to wait till the frost is definitely over.

I just took pics of several that were damaged by the hail, they will have to be replaced. Fortunately, they are cheapies.

I have several of my favorite echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg', can't resist them every time I walk unto HD or Lowes. I had some in protected pots but the ones in the ground will have to be replaced :-(

Whahhhhh

OW, OW , OW! It hurts to look at them! Poor babies.....and poor you! But you know, several of mine get really frost-damaged every year, and by summer they're gorgeous again----could you cut them off after the frost is over, root the tops and let them regrow from the stems? Or are they too prominent in the landscape to be able to do that?

I had one that I just adored, and every year it would get decimated by mealybugs. I finally gave up on it----it's not worth the agony and time I had to spend on it.

The dudlaya is in a pot, a stuffed pot actually. I am going to see if any pups are underneath that are salvageable. The others are not worth trimming, would look too ugly being bare stemmed hoping for a return. I may pot them, trim them and set them on the side of the house to let them recover but the others are cheap buys at HD.

These are what I have in my garden, not all shots were taken in my garden though. Gradually hoping to finish adding my pics to them.
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/Calif_Sue/58541/name3/

You've got some beauties! I don't have a journal for mine, but I should start one. I'm crazy about dudleya, but they don't make it here. I've bought & lost about 5 and that's my limit! There's something about silver rosettes.....

just gorgeous, the color pops right out of that pot!

Okay, I found a photo of the non working fountain. What do you think? Would this make a good home for the succulents?
WIB,
SW

Here is another photo, showing the openings. The big quartz rocks at the base will be moved. It doesn't hold water well, and it isn't level. First I'll move the rocks. Then I'll have to find some muscle to help me level it. It will get a lot of sun in the summer, but I think it'll be really pretty planted with succulents. Any suggestions? Soil type? Pretty succulents besides Hens and Chicks?
Thanks, I always appreciate all the advice and help from "over the back fence", LOL!
WIB,
SW

I think it would be a great succulent container. Start looking around what does well in your area. Sedums, sempervivums and echiverias etc. Check with HD & Lowes for cheap starting plants, that way you can see what works and what doesn't. Use a well draining cactus type mix.
A couple of great inspirational books are The Jewel Box Garden and Shocking Beauty by Thomas Hobbs. He grows a wonderful assortment of succulents in Vancouver Canada and has to dig them and store them every winter but seeing his collection, it is so worth it!
http://www.raincoast.com/feature-thomas-hobbs.html
I am in lust for his house too! http://heavypetal.ca/archives/2005/10/thomas-hobbs-garden/

Shocking Beauty is a wonderful book, and wow is Thomas Hobbs' house spectacular! I'll have to check out the Jewel Box Garden now too. SW, that fountain looks like it has a ton potential.

I have a couple of small succulents, and will try and dig up some pics. Here is a shot pic of my sedum from last May

Here are my little frog pots I brought back from Mexico:

and another little pot from Mexico:

I often mix succulents with other plants too. Here is a newly planted small pot I did in Nov. with a mix of plants, my favorite is the trailing Senecio rowleyanus aka String of Pearls.

This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 2:57 PM

Love your little Mexican pots!

Here is a mixture by my front walkway, succulents and the white hanging bacopa (the larger flowered one is the best!) mixed with blue fescue and that blue gray color repeated in the succulent and a self seeded euphoribia along the walk.

Here I have some black mondo grass with an echeveria 'Black Prince' and a couple of bluish gray echies, right forground is E. 'Ramillette' and the chartreuse Lysimachia nummularia aka Golden Pennywort. I will be redoing this pot soon since the echies are pock marked now.

What great photos, everyone!
SW, I think your fountain was MADE for succulents! I think I have a photo of one in my "garden crawl" photos. I'll try to post it.

I like your combos, Sue!

Here's one of my favorites, although the collcetion of succulents isn't yet what I would like it to be. What's in there is certainly happy, though. My friend gave me a strawberry planter she wasn't using. I planted it with succulents, and topped it with a nice glazed drain-dish that fits the top perfectly. Makes an excellent stable birdbath base. Now my friend wants her strawberry planter back....not a chance!

The birds and I like it so much we're going to do another one.

Here's one of my chocolate sedums. This one seems to hold its color this time of year. The others have all gone green for the winter.

And this last one I think is a graptopetalum, or maybe a graptoveria. I've never had one that held its leaves so far down on the stem---one of my faves!

I found this shot I took in the Sherman Library gardens, which has FABULOUS succulents. Maybe some interesting "fountain" inspiration for you, SW?

very nice!

Oh yum, love it!
I also have that chocolaty sedum and the lavender one which looks like Graptopetalum paraguayense, I always buy one if I see them in good shape..

This is one of my favorites, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'. This shot was taken in Nov.

And actually, going backwards, this was the color in early Oct

and this is what it looked like back in April. I am so afraid to look at it now because I know if suffered hail damage.

Few shots of the cramped yard out back, full of succulents to the point of overflower unfortunately.

a shot of the less traveled area

this time with photo

and a different angle

etc.