Off With Their Heads!

With spring weather upon us at last, everything is really starting to pick up in the garden.  I thought I would show you how to behead an Echeveria 'Afterglow' when it has become too leggy.  The first photo shows how the stem can get elongated and ugly in time.  You can of course leave it to keep getting longer but you will find that the rosette ends up getting smaller and smaller.  So muster up the courage and slice off the head just under the leaves as high as you can get it.  Remove the lower leaves from the rosette and dry it out for at least a week before planting again in well draining soil. With the remaining stump I usually give it a generous feed of slow release fertiliser and a good drink of seasol and fish emulsion and put it out of the way somewhere. When the pups reach  20c size or larger you can gently twist them off the stem and plant into small pots or trays.  The second photo shows the stem already starting to throw pups along it.  Sometimes you can end up with quite alot of pups and sometimes you may only get one or two.......but whatever, it's all a bonus, and much quicker than propagating from leaves.  The third photo is the plant before I beheaded it.  Good Luck everyone!

Spring has sprung!

Aaah, at last - spring has sprung, the grass has riz.......etc etc!  I told you I hibernate in the winter, but I'm back and busy as ever.  I thought I'd show you our latest collaboration in our garden.  We had this old metal round thingy in the garden which we couldnt decide what to do with.  I thought we could just fill it with soil and plant it up with succulents in a showy position BUT Ian came up with a much better idea in my opinion.  He hung it up on the shed wall and put two shelves in it - and this is the result....very pleased with it.  What do you think?

The plant on the bottom is Stapelia variegata. Top left is Sedum 'Giant Burro Tail', top right is Sedum morganianum.

Winter Colour

Hi everyone.  I've got a confession to make - I'm not a winter person at all!  I hate being cooped up inside, but at the same time it's so cold and wet outside it's impossible to do much out in the garden at the moment.

Fortunately for us, succulents dont do much during the cold weather, and just mark time until the warmer weather arrives in spring BUT there is one thing that I love about alot of them in the colder months, and that is the colour change.  It doesnt happen in all of them but the ones that do change in colour are spectacular.  Here is a photo of Echeveria Blue Curls in summer followed by a photo of it now in winter - beautiful colour isnt it? Of course it has grown a fair bit and there are alot more heads, all of which will be cut off in late winter to form many more beautiful plants I hope. This is a truly beautiful plant and highly recommended.

A Lovely Surprise!

I went out the other day to meet up with some fellow 'Down to Earth' forum members for the first time. It was so lovely to meet them and be able to put a face to all their posts.  I'm already looking forward to the next one.....hint, hint.
Anyway I left my husband, Ian, at home and when I got back I got a very lovely surprise.  He had made me a succulent wall hanging out of some old pallets we got given. Something like this is perfect for succulents and it softens the wall as well.

Needless to say I was very happy - I'll have to go out more often!! This is actually the second one he has done.  The following photo is the first one he did, made with wire hangers.

I've asked him to build me one for all my herbs next, so cant wait.  I wonder what else we can make out of them?

A Very Special Echeveria!

This is one of my absolute favourites.  Echeveria 'Mexico'.  Beautiful white leaves that are covered in a powdery substance so you need to be careful not to touch the leaves if you can.  This plant likes it DRY!  Not for the garden if you get frosts but I put mine under the verandah in winter and keep them dry and they do fine.  A fairly slow grower and doesnt really throw many pups but you will get some that you can propagate from.  As I said I dont water this plant at all in winter and only once a week in summer so it doesnt take much looking after.  It is sometimes call 'Giant Mexico'

The other succulent growing with it is Echeveria Violet Queen - a very valuable plant for the garden and pots.  It is frost hardy and the thing I like about it is it changes colour with the seasons.  Purple hue in cold weather and then a grey blue in summer - two plants in one!

Highly recommended.

Stapelia grandiflora

Goodness, time does get away from you sometimes doesn't it?  I've been a bit quiet lately and do apologise, life has just thrown a few curve balls at me!
I thought I would post a photo of Stapelia grandiflora for you all.  I have a certain fascination with these plants and the flowers are usually spectacular.  This one has big red flowers that are very attractive and they make very nice hanging basket specimens.  Easy to grow from cuttings or seed.  I grow mine under the verandah and keep it frost free during the winter.  It doesn't require much water to keep it looking good.  I usually give mine a feed with a slow release fertiliser in early spring to get it going again, and then the occasional feed with liquid seasol to keep it healthy during the growing season.
Highly recommended!

Albury Rotary Market on Sunday

Just letting you all know that we will be at the Albury Rotary Market on this Sunday 9th March on stall C4. Market starts at 9.00 and goes until 12.30 so it would be lovely to see you there! This is a photo of one of my succulent gardens.

Howlong Market.

We will be at the Howlong Market tomorrow from 8.30 to 1.00pm if anyone is interested to come along and check us out.

This is a bowl of Echeveria 'Blue Curls' - one of my favourites - Have I said that before LOL!!
This is a great plant as it forms many pups all around it and is also easy to propagate from leaves.
Looks fantastic in a big clump like this.
Hope to see you tomorrow at the market., but if you cant make it our plants are available by mail order as well.

Echeveria pulvinata 'Ruby"

Well, we are still battling the heat here but fortunately we are expecting cooler temperatures and rain - yes rain - in the weekend. I dont know who's looking forward to it more, me or the plants!
I thought I would show you one of my favourites - Echeveria pulvinata 'Ruby'. Stunning isnt it? It likes a sunny spot to bring the colours out well and has furry leaves and stunning flowers. Great in the garden or in a pot and easily propagated from the leaves, or head cuts.  At the moment I have none available for mail order but am busily propagating more of this very popular one.

Heatwave Damage!

Well, we are now experiencing another prolonged heat wave - 4 days at 42 C!!  The poor plants are really suffering I'm afraid.  My lime tree has thrown it in and the lemon tree doesn't look alot better.
Anyway, I noticed several of my favourite Echeverias were in deep shade and really needed more light so I moved them to a better lit position under the pergola.  It is shaded with shadecloth but unfortunately they got burnt aaaagh! Here is a photo of one of them, so please take a lesson from me and dont decide to move plants on a 42 degree day.

If you have any damage such as burning with your succulents dont throw them out!  Keep them for the pups that they will produce, and they will recover with new leaves eventually. Keep cool everyone.

Heatwave!

We are currently experiencing a prolonged heatwave, with temperatures over 40 C for a week.  This can have a drastic effect on the plants in the garden, including succulents and cacti.  If at all possible move any succulents in pots into a shady position under the eaves or something until the scorching temperatures abate.  Water the plants with a very weak solution of seasol every 3 or 4 days as well. It's also a good idea to mulch the top of the pots with stones to help conserve moisture and reflect the heat. I am currently sitting at the computer and it's 42 degrees outside, and not alot cooler inside!  All I can suggest is try and cover any tender plants with anything you have, such as old sheets, especially in the middle of the day.   This is a really tough succulent plant call Drosanthemum speciosum.  Great for colour out in the garden.  Forms a metre wide shrub and is frost hardy. Flowers in spring in a blaze of colour.