Succulents Don't Suck...(revisted)

This weekend (and much of the future season) I'll be playing with my succulents. I can't help it, they just call to me.

Earlier this morning I posted on my Melanie's Perennials blog, it too was about succulents and some of the plans I have with them.

There are so many different varieties of Sempervivum and Sedums. I don't claim to be an expert on them, I'm not even super careful about keeping their names. If I have a name, I put it in the pot. If I don't, I still grow them and love them. Many varieties were sold to me without names. They are as beautiful as the named varieties so I really just don't care.

This one I've had for 4 or 5 years now. It's been divided each and every year and makes these soft little tufts. The name on the pot was TBA, probably just stood for "to be advised".

One of the reasons I love these plants so much is because they are so forgiving of harsh conditions and so darn easy to grow! This Sedum acre is in a small, cracked plastic pot. It's grown out of the pot and along the ground, rooting in tiny cracks in the concrete.

Here's the same plant, it just crept it's way along the concrete and wound around a nearby planter. You would never know that there's no soil under here.

Every now and then an escapee finds a foothold. This is a tiny Sedum, I'm pretty sure it's name is Sedum dasyphyllum. I have no problem with it having caught hold in the cracks here, in fact I'm going to encourage it to grow!

Pots of these babies are for sale, there's not than many potted up yet and each and every one is different. The watering can is not for sale, I just adore it and can't part with it!

This afternoon friends are coming over with their children. If you do any gardening with kids you have to try these Hens & Chicks. Kids love them! I've done programs at schools and brought in pots of Sempervivum (Hens & chicks). They are so touchable, not thorny or prickly but soft and fuzzy.

The kids especially love the cobwebbed ones and love the fact that they can take them in their fingers and tease the plants apart. The whole idea of the mother plant (the hen) and her little babies (the chicks) appeals to them.

Here's a close up shot, these are just about to send out little babies and we'll be making three different pots from this one piece.

Here's one that was divided out a week ago. You can see how I left room for it to fatten up and for any babies that pop out to find a place to root.

I always add in a few non-succulent plants. This is a Saxifraga 'Cloth of Gold' that I bought yesterday. I haven't had luck with them in the past but this is a new variety for me. It's going to be paired with a beautiful blue foliaged Allium (you can see it in the top photo in the right side of the hypertufa trough).

Off to play,
Melanie

Hypertufa day

Last Thursday was Hypertufa Day for a few women from the Nathan Hale Garden Club in Huntington, New York.

We gathered at Kim's house where her wonderful husband Paul had put together all the ingredients we needed to try our hand at making hypertufa.

Hypertufa is a product that looks like cement but weighs less. A woman can actually manage to lift containers made out of hypertufa. It's a mix of Portland Cement, Peat Moss, Perlite and fiberglass fibers.


Some other products needed are a spray-on oil so the molds slip off easily.


Gloves are a must to protect your hands and a breathing mask and goggles are also important!


This is the fiberglass being added to the mix. In a future post I'll give you the exact recipe.


Once water was added we had a nice crumbly product to work with.


Each of us chose a different kind of container to use as our mold. Nothing too large, we're saving that for the next time!

Simply press the mixture firmly against all the walls of your mold, making sure there are no trapped air pockets and that the thickness is the same all the way around.


Smooth off the top since that will be the top of your container once it is taken out of the mold.


Kim and I both chose to make ours out of 3 litter soda bottles (almost impossible to find). Kim formed hers by hand like you see here. I chose to use a beer can in the center as a second mold. We'll see which works out better.



Don't forget to poke some holes in the bottom for drainage.

Then, wrap your mold in a plastic bag and tie it shut. You need to wait for 48 hours before taking it out of the bag and slipping the mold off. Then leave your container out in the rain and elements for about 2 months in order to cure before planting in it.

Lots more photos to follow, Kim and I are putting together a whole power point program on this fun project.

Oh Deer!

Well, my weekend adventure to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania was a success! The 6.5 hour drive there was through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen. There was still plenty of autumn foliage covering the rolling hillsides. Rural scenes filled with wonderful barns, cattle, pastures and wheat colored corn fields.

The members of the garden clubs there have to be the most generous, wonderful people anywhere. It's a good thing I drove or I wouldn't have been able to get all my goodies back home. Of all the gifts I was showered with, I had to show you the most adorable trough ever, given to me by Len Lehman. It's made from a 3 gallon soda bottle!

Bonnie posted a great question this weekend. You asked what to do with your succulents in your troughs. Leave them! Over the past years I have always left my troughs planted up and have had no problems at all with them. If you are really worried, you can put them against your house foundation, in a sheltered spot (watch the overhang though so they aren't directly under the drip line).

A great cheap insulation is to fill a few leaf bags and just pack those around your containers.

This morning I went out to photograph my troughs. They look wonderful which is more than I can say for all the plants that were taken out by the frost that must have come down on Friday night. Guess I deserved that since I was bragging so much to the PA folks about not having gotten a frost yet :D

The Salvia lyrata 'Purple Knockout' is still going strong in this trough. It's a bit more aggressive than it's neighbors so I ran inside to grab a pair of scissors.

Here it is all nice and cleaned up. My photos all came out a bit blurry this morning. I think the camera kept fogging up because of the temperature change from the inside to the chilly outside. This afternoon when I get home from work I'll try to remember to take a few photos when it's warmer. Depends on how much light is left that late in the day.

Oh, I almost forgot, the title "Oh Deer"... my biggest worry was about driving home from Pittsburgh in the dark and hitting a deer. Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.

First I hit a skunk...PHEW the stink lasted for an hour. I didn't hit the deer until I was only 20 miles from New York City. Don't know who hit it first but it bounced out from right under the car in front of me and before I could react...BABUMPbumpbump. Luckily most of it went under the car, can't say that though for the antlers and head which came right up my hood and slid right up my windshield EWWWWWWW. Needless to say I spent $$ yesterday at the auto parts store and bought the industrial car wash and window cleaner and spent a good hour yesterday cleaning yuck off my car. Since I can't find any damage I consider myself a very lucky lady (at least I'm luckier than that deer).

I took a few more images, I'll post those on Melanie's Perennials. Maybe I'll see you there!

Melanie

Hunt for Hypertufa

This morning my friend Kim and I will go on a hunt for hypertufa containers. Kim is the flower show chairperson for the Nathan Hale Garden club and one of the classes in the show will incorporate dish gardens. Ideally, we'd like to find 4 matching hypertufa containers for this class.

These two photos were taken at Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, New York. Hypertufa is a mix of cement, peat-moss and sand. The containers look like they are solid concrete but are actually light enough to be able to move around.

I've read dozens of articles on how to make hypertufa but just haven't had the time to put together all the ingrediants to try it here.

Our hunt will take us to Hicks Nursery which coincidently is opening their flower show and spring exhibit today. I can't wait to get back and share some fresh photos with all of you!

Wish us luck on finding the right containers.

Melanie