Happy New Year 2014!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year for 2014 and that your thumbs continue to turn green!
Echeveria pallida is another useful plant for the garden or pot.  It is a lovely lime green colour with a pinky mauve edge to the leaf that is a great colour contrast against darker coloured plants.  Plant in a frost free position or if in a pot move under the eaves in winter.  Easy to propagate from pups or leaves.

Christmas market

Hi everyone, just letting you know we will be doing our first market at Yarrawonga on Sunday. We will have all our beautiful succulents on board as well as lots of special pots and window boxes for lovely Christmas presents.....hope to see you there! Starts 8.00am to 12pm. Lots of interesting stalls and bargains to be had.

Graptopetalum paraguayense - The 'Ghost Plant'

This is a really beautiful and useful plant both in the garden and in pots.  In the garden it makes a lovely colour contrast and loves a sunny position.  In pots it will cascade down the side of the pot and really make a statement.  Very easy to grow, propagate from cuttings and when the plant gets too leggy just prune it back a bit and use those cuttings to create more plants.  What could be easier!

Echeveria 'Zorro'

With a name like that this plant can only make a BIG statement!  It's a beautiful dark burgundy colour and forms a large rosette.  Fairly slow growing and doesn't form offsets too much.  Can be propagated from head cuts and leaves.  If you wait until it flowers use the leaves from the flower stalk before the flower opens and you can get some success with that.  Fantastic in the garden or in pots.

Pachyveria 'Huth's Pink'

You guessed it - another favourite of mine.  This plant is a beautiful colour and deepens in the cooler weather.  It makes a great clump in the garden or in pots, but needs to be in a frost free position.
Makes a lovely contrast against grey plants especially.  Easy to propagate from leaves or offsets - just dry them for a few days and then plant in a well draining mix.

Echeveria 'Imbricata'

I think my favourite succulents are the Echeverias.  There are so many of them that come in rosette form and clump up with age.  They all come in the most diverse range of colours and shapes, with beautiful dainty bell shaped flowers as well.  Today I'm featuring a very popular one called Echeveria 'Imbricata'.  This is a french hybrid which is very hardy and can withstand frosts so its very popular in temperate gardens the world over.  It takes a while to start forming offsets and sprawls over the ground, making it excellent for banks and the like.  It can be propagated from the offsets that form or by deheading the main plant.  Can also try the leaves.

Stapelia variegata

I love this plant. It makes a beautiful and striking hanging basket and the flowers are awesome! Dont get your nose too close to the flowers though as they pong - and are pollinated by flies. It is Stapelia variegata - highly recommended, and very easy to propagate from cuttings.

Kalanchoe grandiflora is another beautiful landscaping plant. It has blueish leaves and yellow flowers and makes a very attractive shrub for background plantings in a frost free garden.  A beautiful colour, It really makes a statement.

While we are on the subject of Kalanchoe's, another one that is equally beautiful and useful is Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, or its common name is lavender scallops.  

Terrible addiction!

Before I go much further I should warn all of you that succulents can become a terrible addiction!
My husband had chronic fatigue and virtually slept for a whole year.  Well, I had to find something to keep me occupied didnt I?  I started off with 3 little plants and look what happened.  He jokingly says he went to sleep for a year and when he woke up we had a nursery!  This is a photo of one of my 'nurseries'. Dont say I didnt warn you.

Echeveria 'Afterglow'

This is one of my favourite Echeverias.  The colour is fantastic and it really colours up in the colder weather.  It loves a well drained raised bed in the garden in a frost free position or of course it will thrive in pots and look suitably awesome!  I find in the garden the addition of cow manure really makes them thrive if you can get some - not too much though.  This one doesn't throw many offsets, but when it does you can propagate from them.  Alternatively wait until the plant flowers then use the leaves from the flower stem to propagate from.  Also, of course, you can behead the plant and hope that some pups will form on the stem.  Plant the head cut after drying it out for a week or so.  Good luck!

Echeveria glauca v pumila

This is a very common and easy to grow succulent plant.  It forms many offsets all around it and can be used to make the succulent balls or wall hangings that are so popular.  It is a hardy plant that will grow in the garden or pot and the best way to propagate it is by the offsets, but it can be propagated from the leaves as well.  It just forms so many offsets it is hardly worth trying the leaves!  Very useful as a border in the garden to stop those pesky blackbirds from flipping everything out of the garden beds.

Another favourite

This is an awesome succulent called Agave attentuata or the century plant - because it takes many years to flower.  The photo is of one in flower.  Unfortunately the plant dies after flowering BUT it leaves many pups to propagate from, not to mention all those seeds!  It loves a semi shaded frost free position and will even grow indoors in a well lit position.  Makes an awesome statement in pots or in the garden. A really special plant.

An Introduction

Hi everyone,  I'm absolutely hooked on succulents and cacti, and have been wanting to start a blog on this subject for a long time.  Finally got around to it.  I plant to showcase the diversity and beauty of these plants and help people get to know them and how to grow them.
I'm going to start with one of my favourites - Crassula ovata.  A succulent shrub that will grow in the garden, but is also very suitable for pots.  It has an interesting form and the best thing about it is the fact that it is covered in pink flowers during autumn and winter, when the garden could do with a lift.  If you put one in a pot near your front door it brings very good luck according to Feng Shui.  Easily propagated from cuttings.

Crassula 0vata