Succulent Curb Appeal

My friend Lynda and I have made a few trips in search of succulents over the past few months.  While my own objectives on these occasions were relatively ill-defined, Lynda was very focused.  She'd decided to pull out the shrubs, perennials and annuals from the brick planters that serve as her front garden and replace them with succulents.  She became enamored with (a better term than "addicted to," don't you think?) succulents after replacing the herbaceous plants in the window boxes on the upper level of her townhome with these heat and drought tolerant plants.  An artist, she loved their sculptural qualities, which she's also featured in her canvases.  However, like me, she discovered that it took a lot of succulents to fill an area, even when she bought good-sized specimens to start with.

Photo of the back of Lynda's SUV after our nursery trip to OC Succulents and Roger's Gardens at the end of May

Photo of the cargo area after our most recent trip to OC Succulents this month (before we stopped by Roger's Gardens)

I recently visited her place to see how her succulent garden was coming along.  It looks great already!

The large bed at the front of the house, photographed from the house's second level

The partially shaded bed directly behind the one in depicted above, also photographed from upstairs

Photograph of the same area from the street level looking toward the house

Side bed, photographed from above

A segment of the same bed, photographed from the driveway

Here are some close-ups of her choicest selections:

Aloe cameronii surrounded by Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire' and Dyckia

Agave parryi, which is producing pups like crazy

Echeveria subrigida

Close-up of a portion of the side yard bed showing Agave desmettiana, more Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire,' Dudleya, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' and an assortment of other succulents

The Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope,' which have different watering requirements, will probably be coming out of these beds to make room for more succulents.  That means we have more trips to the nursery in store for us, which is great as I also have spaces to fill in my new succulent bed.

I failed to get a shot of Lynda's window boxes but I did get a few photos of the pots she has along the stairway leading up to her front door.  They look great too and, as she has LOTS of steps, she's got plenty of room for more pots, which of course will support still more trips to the nursery.  (Lynda, if you show this post to Dave, be sure to remind him that none of this shopping is my fault.)

All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party