succulents

FRIDAY FLOWERS: APRIL GARDEN CHORES

By |2019-04-18T19:51:30-04:00April 18, 2019|8 McDowell, Friday Flowers, Garden|

Lots of small jobs around the garden this week: time to update the pots!

Looking great! But that was a month ago and now the pansies are brown and almost gone.

I had won (at a garden club dinner!) these two planters years ago and love them. For years they were sort of planter orphans: no home in the garden seemed right for them. But now they sit in the front entryway and are perfect. The pansies do well all winter: when it’s cold and icy the flowers shrivel up but give them a day of sun and some warmer temps and they flourish!

But, given that this is the hot Western side of our house, I have to be careful in summer. So this year I have filled them with Portulaca and Delosperma (Ice Flower); both are wonderful in hot, dry conditions! I added that one dark purple petunia…we shall see.

 

Another ‘to-do’ is to plant seeds. I don’t plant many seeds as I find they just do not do well for me. Last year a friend started some in his greenhouse for me (seeds brought back from England so they were very special!) but otherwise I […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: SUCCULENT PLANTER PROJECT

By |2014-05-15T19:26:21-04:00May 15, 2014|Friday Flowers, Garden|

Here are the planters I had seen at Southern States
and just HAD to have one.

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I bought this green one:

IMG_4804_wm This was a HUGE debate! I loved all the colors, but this seemed right…

 

Step One

There were no drainage holes in the bottom and for succulents this is an absolute must. You need to have good drainage and the right soil mix. So out came the handy drill; we made about eight holes in the bottom.

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Step Two

The soil and the mix is very important. You want a loose, granular, well draining soil so the roots will not rot with too much water. I actually bought a Cactus Mix then added some sand. Underneath that I put some pink bark mulch, as suggested by one of our local nurseries, The Unique Plant. 

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IMG_4805_wm Here are the plants they sold me…whoops, that Euphorbia snuck in there!

 

Step Three

Choose your plants and put them in. Again, from The Unique Plant, I put in agave lophantha […]

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