Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Foliage Follow-up - February 2016

The Santa Ana winds are blowing here again and it's uncomfortably hot and dry.  I came home this afternoon to find my husband had turned on the air conditioning, which I think is a first for February.  Although we ran the irrigation system in the wee hours of the morning, by late afternoon almost everything still looked a little parched so finding subjects for this month's foliage follow-up, the meme hosted by Pam of Digging, posed something of a challenge.  I focused on succulents, many of them in pots.

I received my very own circle pot as a Christmas gift from my husband.  Rather than hang it, I have it sitting on our patio table.  I stuffed it with succulent cuttings from my garden, mostly Aeonim arboreum and Aeonium 'Kiwi'.

I planted this succulent bowl a few months ago.  Its centerpiece is Kalanchoe 'Fantastic', picked up on a Santa Barbara plant shopping trip with a friend in November, along with what I think are 3 Aloe brevifolia.  Cuttings of other succulents from my garden were used to fill in.

This hanging planter was a Christmas gift from my wonderful sister-in-law.  It contains Echeveria 'Blue Prince', noID pale blue Echeveria, Graptopetalum 'Darley Sunshine' and miscellaneous cuttings from my garden.


Not all of my succulents are happy as the next photo shows but even unhappy succulents can be pretty.

The same green Aeonium arboreum was used in both of the areas shown here but those on the left are planted on a dry slope in an area which currently has little protection from the sun, while those on the right receive more regular irrigation and half-day shade.


Succulents that receive some shade generally seem to fare better when the temperatures soar.

This Agave 'Blue Flame' gets partial shade during the hottest part of the afternoon


But others develop the best color when they're stressed a bit.

I apologize for the quality of this photo but it does show how nicely both Aloe dorotheae and Crassula pubescens ssp. radicans (surrounded by Agave 'Blue Glow') color up when given a healthy dose of sun.


We've got a chance of rain late Wednesday into Thursday but, based on prior experience this season, my expectations are low.  Forecasters expect temperatures to drop 15-20 degrees tomorrow but, by the end of the week, the ridge of high pressure is expected to return, sending temperatures back up.  It's not the winter we expected in Southern California.

For other foliage highlights, visit Pam at Digging.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

24 comments:

  1. Oh for those succulents to be hardy here - sigh. Your circle pot is fabulicious! I didn't know the circle pot came in that gorgeous blue color which is perfect with the yellow and pink of Aeonium 'Kiwi' and the others add a delightful counterpoint.

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    1. I'd originally planned to plant the circle pot with something more exotic but I got tired of seeing it sit empty while I over-thought things so I used what I had on hand.

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  2. That blue circle pot is gorgeous! You know it's hot when the succulents are looking stressed in February... I hope the rain tomorrow comes true.

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    1. That "burgundy" Aeonium in the circle pot started out as green as the ones that grow elsewhere in my garden. It's the same plant, only very, very stressed.

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  3. I'd love to have those succulents also, but I'll pass on the heat. It will be here soon enough.

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    1. I'd like to take a pass on the heat myself, Marti. Yesterday and today were cooler, fortunately.

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  4. Sending wishes for rain your way. Your succulents are all gorgeous, I love what you did with your circle pot!

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    1. Thanks for the good wishes, Loree! We got some rain last night and another trifle this morning. It totaled 0.53 inches here, which might not sound like much to you but it was stellar by comparison to most of the prior storms.

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  5. Here comes the rain, here comes the rain
    And I say it's all right...

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  6. I love all your beautiful succulents, how lovely to be able to enjoy them outside.

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    1. Sometimes I think the day may come when that's virtually all I'll have outside - the succulents do hold up well here.

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  7. The succulents look beautiful. Ugh, sorry about the Santa Ana winds, that's the last thing you need. I thought of you when watching the Olympic marathon trials on Saturday and heard the commentators say that those trials were the hottest on record.

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    1. We've has a ridiculously warm February, Sweetbay.

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  8. Oh! I really admire your circular pot, and how you've planted it. Sorry to hear about the wind again, hot wind is much worse than cold!

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    1. They don't call our Santa Ana winds "devil winds" for nothing, Christina. Your skins starts to itch as soon as they begin to blow and every siren has you looking to the horizon to see if a fire is burning somewhere nearby.

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  9. Neat pot! Aloe brevifolia has become a favorite small Aloe as it seems to hold up to extreme drought better than any other. Your plants all look really good.

    Yeah, this winter isn't the droid we were looking for...ended up with about .25"--we got a brief but heavy shower this morning. Far more than I expected!

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    1. I'm glad to hear the rain reached you too. We actually got a pretty good soaking, mostly last night. My 2 smaller rain barrels are once again full and the big one is about half full. It's probably pure imagination but I swear everything in the garden looked greener and perkier this morning.

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  10. So glad you got some rain, Kris! Your blue circle pot is fantastic! I absolutely LOVE it! For the life of me, I can't keep Aeoniums alive, so I'm glad I can enjoy yours, instead. :)

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    1. The Aeoniums are my go to plants when I need to fill in anywhere quickly and cheaply so I'm always surprised when I hear that they don't do well elsewhere. They must be very cold sensitive - or maybe they just don't like regular rain!

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  11. I love the way you've planted those containers - don't succulents have the most wonderful color range for foliage...! (Not counting what happens when they get sunburnt!)

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    1. I'm not sure whether the burgundy color of those larger Aeoniums in the circle pot are attributable to sun or low water. Maybe it's a combination of the two - they turned that dark color very quickly in this case.

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  12. All great succulent containers, the blue circle is so pretty. I'm so jealous of the range of succulents you can plant outside year round. The hanging sphere has been on my list for a while and now I know I have to have one.

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  13. Thank goodness for succulents - they're the one kind of plant we can count on in winter and summer here!

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