California Gardeners' Succulents

one of many pots out back

Ahh, I bet touring your garden would be like visiting a fun nursery with treasures to stop and admire at every turn. My problem is I like too many plants to limit myself and with these small Calif. yards, everything gets so crammed in.

wish I had a bigger yard for sure... but I can barely afford what I have now...
here is one of many pots devoted solely to Haworthias (we have 8 or 9 pots sort of like this)

another one covered with messy Brachychiton flowers

here's another that is doing exceptionally well

and the other side of it

front yard has a lot of succulents, too

Love all the bowl combos, gives me ideas for some of mine that need to be redone.

my favorite Echeveria

front side yard

That E. subrigida went one my wish list when I first saw you post it in PF, just gorgeous! Will have to hunt more earnestly for one.

Wow! What a wonderful tour. I think it is true that if you have enough plants that there are no weeds. OR is that we begin to embrace the weeds as just another beautiful plant?
I have been on the hunt for body part pots.
I have heads

and feet!

But I especially like the hairy heads!

I love the heads! Someday I'll find just the right one. KatG sells some but she's in FL and the shipping is way too high.
For anyone that may not have seen this thread I did last year on the C&S forum, some gorgeous succulents in Half Moon Bay. They really seem to thrive in the coastal towns.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/905267/

This message was edited Feb 25, 2009 10:21 AM

Oh man, I LOVE this thread!!! I am getting more and more addicted to potted succulents! Keep them coming people!

Such great combos in everyone's photos----wow! Can't wait till it warms up so I can juggle some of mine around! Palmbob, I really like the way you make your pots into miniature landscapes and use the plants as just one element.

Sue, I love Fred Ives, too----I'm hoping mine survives this winter. Last time I looked, it wasn't looking very happy.

PotEmUp, you've chosen perfect plants for your heads!

oh PalmBob your yard is delicious! Has that gorgeous front yard inspired anyone in your neighborhood to copy it?

Great pics...I'm getting all sorts of ideas (somebody stop me hehe)

Oh there's no stopping once you get into succulents. They're like potato chips, you can't stop at just one.

Um, I'm drooling over PalmBob's plants. Not to mention the groupings. Do I see another book in the offing?
Ima, so much inspiration, now the need is for some perspiration. I've still got to get that planter, oops fountain leveled before I begin to plant it. That's what kids are for right? LOL!
Truly I have enjoyed the eye candy and the tours of all the gardens and planters too.
Where do you find those body part planters, PotEmUp? I really like those heads too.
I'll post photos as my/our project progresses!
WIB,
SW

Succulents can definitely become an addiction! You just can't beat all these bold colors.

I really like adding string of pearls to my arrangements too!

ooh that's pretty.... I have a pot of string of pearls sitting in the garage, can you separate all those strings?

You sure can! Be VERY careful, and dig out a couple of "strings" and their roots with your fingers. These came from another pot which is filled with strings only.

rob, those are beautiful together.
Another trailer I love is string of hearts. I don't think it's a succulent, but I have it in a pot with some and it does very well.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53707/

That's how I did the planter I posted above, one pot and I carefully separated them. I am on the look out for more now. Mine are currently blooming, small little whitish blooms.

Sue - somehow I had missed that post, it's beautiful.

I need to get to work!

By the way, I meant to ask you Sue, how did you manage to combine EEs and succulents in the same pot? Are they doing ok? that's awesome!

Yep, all looks fine. So far. I hand water so can control how much they get

Imapigeon, I just saw the string of hearts pics, they are precious!!! Have you tried propagating them? (having second intentions here, hehe)..

the string of hearts are cute..., I'm trying to concentrate on filling the slope and now I am so distracted by these gorgeous pots!

I've just broken pieces off, coiled them up & laid them on the soil and successfully started them that way. I guess that's what gave me the idea they were a succulent. Mine are SO pretty in the summer, and they get a small pink trumpet-shaped bloom, too. And of course I have no pictures of them from summer. Right now they are just a bunch of strings---not a leaf in sight---but the stems are still alive, and about 3 feet long. I have to trim them off during growing season to keep them from getting tangled in the plants below.

toots, we cross-posted. You might consider incorporating some succulents into your slope planting. Mixed with other plants they make an amazing display. I'll see if I can find a couple of some of my garden crawl photos where they've been combined.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2009 5:46 PM

Like this, for instance....

Or this...

Or this...

It's definitely the direction I'm headed, if I can find enough hardy varieties for my garden!

Wow, I'm impressed and inspired. I even ordered the books. LOL!
DH went to the store last night, and bought me some very small containers of succulents. There are two that are labeled cactus/succulent, I'll have to take photos.Then he got me a 2" pot of Baby Toes, Fenestraria rhodalphylla, an Aloinopsis schooesii, which has a small yellow blossom just starting to bloom. I'll take a photo. Anacampseros rufescens. A "Split rock" or "Living Rock", kinda of strange looking, but pretty. "Blue Chalk Fingers, which do have a blue tint, aka Senecio (Kleinia) mandra|iscae. He also brought home a really sad looking plant, of the Haworthia species, this one needs to be kept damp and have filtered light unlike all the others.
He couldn't find any horses tails or strings of pearls. RATS! He does get points for looking. When he unloaded the soil, by placing the bags into the fountain he said, "I think I didn't get enough soil." I had to laugh. Especially since we still have to level that fountain/planter. I have some hens and chicks, some living stones and other succulents I can move out there, but I love the look of the strings of pearls and the horses tails.
I'll take photos of my progress. You all are a constant source of amazement to me!
Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration!
WIB!
SW

Gosh, I am such a wantabe! After seeing all these fantastic pics, I should put that in caps. I have acquired so many succulents all year but have only done 1 combo pot. I wish I could find some pots that are special like PalmBob has. And I wish I had room to do a whole strip like you have Janet. 30 years of living here has left me with no room! Shoot!

Here is a cool living picture I saw at a nursery. I saw small flat sized ones at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show last year. This one is huge - made of 12 flats!

This message was edited Feb 27, 2009 3:11 AM

A close up.

Beautiful Kell, a work of art! Of course, the surroundings are way too neat to ever be considered one of our gardens! LOL What nursery is that? I have been wanting to go to Flora Grubbs in the city, have you ever been there?

SW, you are off to a good start! You can amend your soil purchase with sharp sand or small gravel to improve drainage.
I have a couple of Fenestraria rhodalphylla in little pots on a patio table, they are so sweet all by themselves: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/221441/
Anacampseros rufescens should be pretty easy to grow, I see them at HD often, I think I have some somewhere in a pot. I have yet to be successful growing those split rock ones, they always seem to rot on me. The Blue Chalk Fingers are great, very easy to grow and a nice contrast with the greens. I don't care for it's tiny blooms, they look too plain so I clip them off.
Which books did you order? These are the two I highly recommend for succulents: Designing with Succulents by Debra Lee Baldwin and Succulents for the Contemporary Garden by Yvonne Cave.