Placing Plants: Pots vs. Ground

  The placement of plants is a decision that must take into consideration many factors. Before owning a house, I only had potted plants, and to recap, only one (an aeonium) ever survived! One of the most immediate things you can do to perk up a sad-looking plant is put it in the dirt, the real dirt. Of course, one still has to determine what area of ground will be the best for the plant.

My succulent cutting garden. The furniture is 1:12 dollhouse furniture from the 1980s.

  The first decision to be made is whether the plant should live indoors or out. In Southern California the fairly mild to warm climate supports quite a large variety of succulent plants, and worrying about plants getting frostbitten is something very rarely worried about. The one thing that can and does happen to some of my succulents is that they are too delicate for full sun. This applies to different types of succulents, but its good to know that young plants are easily burned in hot sun and must be given some sort of shelter until they reach adult size.
  

Grew "under" another adult plant.

  The mesembryanthemums in the indoor window box I grow cuttings in were on clearance at Home Depot. They could probably be planted outside, but I'm not comfortable putting these rock-shaped plants in the ground. I KNOW they'd get stepped on!

The cuttings garden is a safe indoor area for baby plants. 

The un-ID'd baby succulent loves its safe home.

  You can see in the photos where I have set baby plants from leaf cuttings atop the potting soil to grow safely indoors. Yes, I have used seed beads, crystals and rocks to cover the soil and make it purty. Well, "fairy gardens" are in now, aren't they?

  

 

  These three pots contain some of the smaller or more delicate plants. For instance, in our lovely lady on the far right is a small piece of that wacky jade plant they're calling "Gollum Fingers" these days, but in front of that is a haworthia that I had originally planted out of doors. The plant was just too delicate for direct sunshine, so I brought it indoors. Haworthias are popular indoor plants, especially in Asia, where cultivators have bred some frankly weird and wacky plants.

"String of Pearls" is NOT an easy grow!

  A plant that I potted but kept outdoors is this still-tiny string of pearls plant. It finally has grow some new leaves (those bulbous "pearls"), but is not thriving at all in its location of direct sunlight. I only potted it because its a trailing succulent, but  since it's in a pot I already have the flexibility to place the pot itself in a shadier location.

A "crown of thorns" euphorbia and a "bunny ear" grafted cactus

  The biggest problem I have with potted plants is keeping them watered! The above photo has a euphorbia with lovely orange-pink flowers. After planting it in that pot, I neglected it. When I finally started regular watering again, the new flower growth was pale yellow and white! At least it stayed alive, and it appears that the color is changing back to the terra cotta pink seen above.

A week after being in the ground.

   Back to the ground; if you want a plant to really grow, you've gotta give it room. This piece of floribunda would never had survived had it been in a pot. By sticking it in the wet earth near the hose spout, I've got a revitalized plant. I've never experienced this sort of regeneration with potted plants. Every plant I've left in this condition dried up and died in its pot.

Six weeks being in the ground.

  Controlling plant growth is something that a pot can assist with, but just because you've got a plant in a certain sized pot does not mean it will stop growing to fit the container! Plants should be repotted at least every two to three years. What putting a plant in a pot does do is prevent the plant from sending out underground shooters that pop up as pups. Of course, if I did have my agaves in a pot, they'd probably just skip the long rhizomes and make the babies right against the mother plant.

Agave pups broke ground about three feet away from mom.

  To wrap it up, then, most plants thrive in the ground, but succulents do grow quite well in pots. Succulent growers in cold climates will want to pot their plants so that the plants can be moved to warmer areas during winter. Pots might slightly inhibit your plant from reproducing, but not to a noticeable degree. In fact, I keep all of my cuttings in the kitchen, and here's the latest batch of will-be-plants:

All echeveria leaves, I believe.

The Elegant Aeonium

  Aeoniums are easily recognized as succulents, their fleshy leaves growing in rosettes. Originally distributed by sailors as souvenirs from the Canary Islands, they're readily available at nurseries and home stores; my first aeonium was a Target purchase of aeonium cyclops, a purple aeonium with green at the center of the rosettes. Aeoniums propagate frequently by offshoots or pups, and produce seeds once in their lifetime, dying after blooming.

Baby Aeonium right after being put in the ground.

The same plant a few weeks later.

  

  Wait, aeoniums die after blooming? Yes, aeoniums are like agaves in that they live for years, then bloom once and expire. This isn't necessarily a problem, however. As long as the gardener knows this is going to happen, then it can be planned for and pruned correctly. Aeoniums reproduce just like agaves, though like most other succulents, aeoniums reproduce pups that are actually grown in between the leaves of mature rosettes, or along the stems of arboreal plants. Aeoniums also have shorter life cycles, which means you can enjoy aeonium blooms much more frequently than those of the century plant.

A few weeks after that the largest leaves have been completely blocked from the sun by new leaves.

 When growing aeoniums it is important to let the plant expand through new rosettes and offshoots. One rosette may bloom then die, but you'll already have a larger body of plant that will continue to thrive. A dead aeonium must be removed from the living plants around/attached to it. With arboreal (tree-like) aeoniums, the dead bloom is removed and the stem trimmed of the now elongated rosette. DO NOT remove the entire stem! It is very likely that your aeonium will grow new offshoots from the bare stem.

Miniscule rosettes are blooming from "eyes" where the stem formerly had a leaf in this aeonium cyclops.

The aeonium cyclops before blooming.

An aeonium cyclops in bloom.


Aeonium blooms are cone-shaped structures made of tiny yellow flowers. I must admit, I was rather dismayed to find my aeonium blooming, and the stages in between preparing to flower and the actual bloom leave the plant looking like a phallic symbol from a Cronenberg film! In fact, I have no photos of that stage, as I avoided looking at my plant for awhile. I'm not a prude, but it was... gross. Now that I'm prepared for the weirdness, I'm waiting for the remaining largest rosette to bloom.

An adult aeonium of the same species as the plant in the first two photos.

Close-up of the center of the adult aeonium.

A new rosette growing between leaves near the base of the parent plant.

Two pups growing at the base of the larger adult plant.

  I cut two pups off of this aeonium, though they wouldn't root for weeks! They're both still alive, and finally rooted after what might be a month. Both severed pups withered a bit, closed up, and turned yellow-green. As can be seen in the below photo, the leaves are going green again, indicating the plant has finally set out some roots and reached water. I don't plan on removed the two remaining pups; I'm curious to see how the plant will change as they expand and reproduce themselves.

One of four pups finally rooted and growing again.

  Aeoniums look more plant-like to me than some other succulents. They are also more susceptible to damage. Scratches on leaves can scab over, and snails adore these plants! This damage is apparent in these variegated baby aeoniums. Water sitting on the plant can burn it, and create patterns of dots as you can see in the below image.

  These particular plants were much less pink and yellow and very green when removed from their packaging. I kept them in the shade before planting them, and it's been fascinating watching their colors grow in! These are looking like they might be aeonium "Kiwi" plants, as they are remaining fairly low to the grow and are already reproducing. The tenacious plants are growing despite damage. Pink and green are my favorite colors, and like several other succulents, this aeonium bursts with the colors!

  I'm growing one more aeonium, though I have no idea what type it is. It forms a small shrub and the long, green rosette leaves are slightly hairy and sticky. It came without a proper label, and I still haven't found an adequate description of it in any of my books or on the internet. Its growth has been rather explosive, and I'm curious to see if it grows taller or just spreads out.

                                 

Some lovely pictures of aeonium cyclops:

Morning dew rests inside this rosette. Smaller plants do not tolerate dew as well as this larger plant can.

Close up of the little yellow flowers

A canopy of brilliant yellow.

Lovable Lithops

My instant lithops collection purchased from Ebay

  
  Lithops are a type of Mesembryanthemum (try saying that five times fast) found in Namibia and South Africa. Mesembryanthemums are a family of succulents with an interesting characteristic. They look like rocks.

  Lithops are characterized by a two-part plant body. With a yearly growth cycle they reproduce themselves, a new plant emerging from between the two plant halves (which aren't exactly halves, one is slightly larger). Sometimes a lithops will produce two new plant bodies, like the plant in the top right corner of the first photo. A lithops can expand like this over many years, creating a plant body of many lithops joined in a cluster.

  Lithops, apparently, are known as difficult to care for. This is far from true. I think lithops must be the easiest houseplant one can find.

A four-headed lithops I found on clearance at Home Depot.

  Lithops are rarely in need of water. In fact for at least half of the year they want nothing to do with it! After growing a new plant body a lithops will absorb the nutrients from the old plant body, eventually leaving a husk that can be pulled off with care. The four-headed lithops in the above photo still has the desiccated leaves attached. It is essential during this time that you DO NOT WATER! Lithops are from extremely arid areas, and only experience rainfall a few months out of the year. Overwatering can easily lead to the death of the plant!

After potting the plants. Old plant bodies are visible on a few.

  In the spring the old plant bodies are husks, and you can water your plant(s). Only water them about every two weeks, and STOP WATERING when summer hits. The plant is resting, and too much water can overwhelm it. Towards the middle/end of August start watering again, and water well, letting the soil dry completely in between waterings. In a month or two a lithops will produce a single yellow or white flower, which emerges from the center just like the new plant body eventually will. Stop watering when the flower begins to wither. After the flower dies a new plant emerges. At the end of winter, in late spring you can start watering again.

I usually don't name plants, but this is Audrey!

  I'm looking forward to my plants blooming this fall, but not all of them will. Lithops won't produce a bloom until they are at least a couple of years old. With that in mind I am pretty confident my "four-headed" lithops will bloom in September. It has to be at least a few years old, as a lithops only doubles (if that) during a single growth season. This also means that my two-headed lithops could be old enough to bloom as well. As far as I can determine, the only way to know a plant is older than a year is if it contains more than one plant body, and plants do not necessarily double every growth cycle.
  

Lithops a few months later. The old leaves have withered away.

  I've watered my lithops only a few times. I watered the four-headed plant when I planted it because one of the plant bodies was slightly wrinkled, indicating a need for water, as well as the fact that the soil it was in was sand-dry. I'm guessing that's why they were on clearance. Home Depot probably only sells lithops and other mesembryanthemums seasonally and has a "no watering" rule.

  When it comes to placing your pot of lithops, make sure it's in a location where it can get four to five hours of direct sun each day. More than that can lead to sunburn, as you can see the lithops on the 

left in the above picture. Without enough sunlight a lithops will grow long and thin, trying to reach whatever light they can. Mine are all in an indoor windowbox facing the north. I don't have good east and west windows, so it was a choice between north and south, and I'm definitely more Yankee than Union.

  Most of my lithops were an eBay lot purchase with which I'm very pleased. Lithops seeds are inexpensive, and apparently grow well. Having no patience for seedlings, I went straight for the adult plants, which one should be able to find for less than $5.00 for an individual plant. If you hurry now (date of post) to Home Depot you might find some on clearance for a couple of dollars. Good luck! 

Creating a Succulent Collection: Ordering Succulents Online

   When I decided to dedicate my garden to succulents I wanted to plant as many different succulent plants as I could. To that end, I ordered sixty-four mixed succulents, sort of a "grab bag" of plants, from The Succulent Source. I have a terrible history of this sort of purchase; I think I like the gamble! When my plants arrived however, I had been sent the wrong ones! Instead of a random variety I received eight each of eight types of plants, a "wedding" assortment. Yes, succulents are wedding-trendy! They're used as place card holders/favors.

My first order arrived incorrect.

  I was very determined to get my variety, even willing to go through a return process, and after a few emails the store sent me a mix of thirty plants to make up for the error. My newer new plants were everything I could ask for, and now I had nearly ninety to play with! After sharing some with a friend, I started planting.

My "make up" shipment of 30 plants

  

  As can be seen from the photos, the plants arrived in excellent condition, and every one of them is still thriving! I would highly recommend The Succulent Source. The plants are fantastic and their customer service is as well. Should I want more plants for the garden or ever get married (ha!) I will definitely patronize their site! I was quite happy with my first online plant purchase, and it solidified my love for succulents!

  One note: should you purchase from this site, be sure not to open your package in the outdoors, especially if it's windy. There was a plethora of packing peanuts. Strange to see them after getting so used to Amazon's air-bags and crumpled paper. Anyway, I'm still plucking pink peanuts out of the flower beds! I suggest opening them in the garage or kitchen if possible.

Creating a Succulent Collection: Keeping Records

  I'm not a naturally-organized person. I really do have difficulty with planning and homemaking, and it's something I'm working on daily. There are a few tips and tricks I've picked up or "discovered" myself, and I use these few tools/methods to keep track of my succulent collection.

  Identifying succulents is probably one of the most difficult aspects of cultivating the plants as a pastime. Since my record-keeping skills are limited, one trick I use is taking photos of newly-acquired plants while still in their plastic pots. Now, the labels are not always accurate, and most are rather generic, but at the very least a name on a label gives you a point of reference to base a search on.

  

  This plant is labelled as a "hybrid," which is, in fact, what many store-bought succulents are. Hybrids are usually created by plant fanciers (people who raise show plants like others raise show dogs). Hybrids are a combination of different parent plants to create a new breed (again, like dogs). My favorite hybrids are all echeverias, like the "Lola" in the first photo. Echeveria hybrids can resemble funky rainbow cabbages, delicate roses, or even monstrous mutants from an H.P. Lovecraft story. 

   

  Groundcover is essential. That's it. You need to cover the exposed dirt in your garden. The simplest reason is weeds. If they can't break through the soil to eat the sunshine, weeds can't grow. Another reason to cover the ground around specific plants (like those tarty agaves) is to prevent pups from growing around the plant base. I have seen agave grown so that they are surrounded by offspring like happy Buddha with children, but this will make the plant much harder to prune and eventually remove after it flowers.

  Your groundcover can be plants. Ice plants, which I always have thought of as "freeway plants," are very fast-growing and can cover the bare earth in a matter of months. There are many types of sedum that make excellent groundcover, in fact, a well-stocked nursery should have several different types of ground covering succulents. The problem with plants, however, is that YOU CAN'T WALK ON THEM! Personally, I like being able to move my feet into the small spaces between some plants to prune them, and I've learned plants as groundcover is asking too much if myself as a gardener!  

The black DOES bring out the color, though in these sunny pics are rather washed out. I don't really want sand, so I'm really hoping this stuff will be okay. I'll probably have to invest in decomposed granite someday. Then, no more weeds, ever!

It looks sophisticated, though I think the black color will leech out of the wood like it's leeching under my nails. Maybe I could use a variety of bark colors? Make a pattern like those bottles filled with layers of colored sand made by kids and housewives on Pinterest! To make sure I can get matching cover in the future, I cut out and save the label from the bag the bark came in. The strong plastic folds easily and can be filed in a folder.

Adorable Surprise in the Climbing Aloe

  At least twice a day I inspect the garden for new growth, damage to plants, and the effectiveness of the drip system. I peruse the place before leaving for work and again when I return home in the evening. If I'm very lucky I'll run into one of the many-legged denizens of my yard. This particular morning I was lucky enough to find, in the climbing aloe of all places, a monarch caterpillar preparing to cocoon!

  One of the nonsucculents I grow is a tenacious and twiggy milkweed. Monarch butterflies drink the nectar and lay their eggs on the leaves. The eggs hatch and the caterpillars use the plant as a nursery and kitchen, chomping away until they grow large enough for their metamorphosis. At this point the caterpillar leaves mama milkweed and finds a hanging structure with some height to install itself in cocoon form. Usually this happens along the flagstone section of wall closest to the milkweed, or occasionally the woody lavender bush. Somehow, this little larvae crawled all the way across the yard to wind up in the aloe!

  It was pretty obvious from the pose that it was time to spin. Yes, those black lumps on the spiderweb ARE caterpillar poops!

  The insect wasn't quite ready to spin yet, and started a curl-up when I got too close. This afternoon I arrived home to find:

 

 Aw! I missed the action! If I keep the milkweed I'm sure I'll have another chance!

Segway From Succulents: Hidden Mickey Cactus

When I first moved into my house my brother brought over a lot of plants he had literally pinched from larger plants and then grown from the cuttings. One of the pieces he brought over was a cactus, but I'd completely forgotten about it until finding it this morning while cleaning out a large planter where I'd had a large amount of ground cover choking the other plants.

This cute little guy is rotting away.

  After removing a very large patch of applejack, I found quite a few little plants that had been nearly overwhelmed by the dense groundcover. This cactus appeared this morning, and I have no idea how it was not only still alive, but it hadn't been squashed when I pulled out the oppressive applejack. It was, however, quite rotted from sitting in mud.

With a sharp knife I sliced off the rotting tissue.

  The convenient bit was that I had just read an article on how to potentially save a cactus in such condition. The only chance was to deadhead the cactus, slicing off the top portion of healthy tissue and treating it as a cutting. With a cactus, however, one can't really give them time to callous, so the next step is to place the plant top on some soil and leaving it to develop roots. This truly is an experiment; so little healthy tissue was left it seems unlikely the remaining body can produce more plant.

Here's the plant sitting atop the soil in my cuttings nursery.

  I've also read that a cactus should be placed in soil low on organic material, so my window box nursery with its groundcover of mineral and glass beads should keep it fairly clean. The cactus is barely an inch wide, so it fits perfectly with the other small plants around it. It's like a dangerous teddy bear head right next to the 1:12 baby cradle!