Friday, July 27, 2018

More succulent container rehabs

I've been planning to rehab the succulent container near our back door for months.  A trip to a new-to-me succulent nursery in nearby Torrance provided both the incentive to do so and a supply of fresh material.  The nursery is an offshoot of California Greenhouses/OC Succulents and it specializes in succulents and other drought tolerant plants.  I've visited the Irvine location many times and when I learned they'd opened a store much nearer to me I made plans to check it out, although it took me almost a year to finally get there.

Unfortunately, I left my trip until mid-afternoon and, as they close at 4pm, I didn't have much time to explore.  Focused on succulents in 4-inch pots, I found plenty of those in a very large shade-covered tent structure.  I took a few photos.

The area was neat and well-organized

and all the plants were in pristine condition

I didn't have time to check out the bromeliads, much less the larger succulents in the outside area or the indoor plants


I came home with 14 plants, all succulents.  Some of them went into replanting the pot by the back door.  I cleaned up and reused the 'Sunburst' Aeoniums and the variegated Portulacarias that were included in the pot when I first planted it, filling in with another of my favorite succulents, Echeveria 'Blue Atoll'.

This was the planter as it looked back in January with Aeonium 'Sunburst' hogging all the attention

This is the newly replanted container.  Unfortunately, the Aeoniums are sun-scorched, something I didn't notice until I cut their tall stalks in preparation for replanting the container.  I'm guessing this was yet another impact of the nuclear heatwave we experienced in early July.  While some of my other 'Sunbursts' are bleached out, no others are scorched like this and I'm wondering if reflective glare from the the patio surface could've been a factor in the damage.


There was a very large, healthy specimen of 'Blue Atoll' at the nursery.  It was impressive but the 4 I included in my pot cost about half as much altogether.

It filled a 10-inch pot.  I didn't know it could grow this large.


I noticed that the color of the 'Blue Atoll' Echeverias I've planted out in the garden has faded.  Although some growers said full sun exposure is acceptable, I think they'll probably retain their blue color better with less sun so I plan to keep my refurbished pot out of the hot afternoon sun.

I used another Echeveria and Portulacaria in replanting a pot by the front door.

This pot was formerly occupied by a Senecio candicans but that plant seems to prefer life in the ground to life in a pot so I moved it


I expect I'll be paying another visit to OC Succulents in Torrance soon.  Their selection and prices are much better than my local garden center.

Best wishes for a cool, comfortable weekend.  For my local friends, may the fog be with you!

We've enjoyed morning fog for 3 days now.  This photo was taken at noon yesterday when the fog held on until 2pm.  It's kept our afternoon temperatures much lower than those we started out with at the beginning of the week.
 

All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

22 comments:

  1. Glad you're getting fog and lower temps! How cool to have such a nice succulent nursery so close by, I bet you're going to spend a lot of money there. The refurbed pot looks great!

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    1. The Torrance nursery will probably become my favorite go-to place for succulents. The 4-inch succulents are almost 25% cheaper than my prior local source and I expect the difference in larger-sized containers is commensurate so, as I see it, I'll be saving money ;)

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  2. Your refurbished pots look wonderful. How cool to have a new nursery closer to you. Looking forward to further visits when you have time to check out more plants. Hope you have a happy and cooler weekend!

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    1. New nurseries aren't a common thing here like they are in the PNW, Peter!

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  3. Fog acts like a natural curtain for you - no wonder you like it!
    I loved all the texture and color available at that nursery. I would have a hard time limiting myself!

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    1. It was probably a good thing that I allowed myself so little time there, Eliza!

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  4. Oh that nursery looks excellent Kris. No doubt you will be hastening back before another year lapses. Glad to see that you are getting some relief in the form of fog. Hope that you have a good weekend.

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    1. The fog bank is back for the 4th morning in a row, Anna! We've been very lucky. I can even get into the garden to do some work.

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  5. The 'Blue Atoll' is appealingly cooling; I love the pic of the big one with baby atolls peeking out from the base.

    Hope you'll take us on another visit to that excellent nursery sometime, despite the risk to your budget.

    May fog continue to bless your garden.

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    1. The fog continues, Nell! I'm hoping that this late "No Sky July" is followed by a "Fogust". I didn't make up those terms - that's what the morning marine layer is called when our famous "June Gloom" extends into the later summer months. It's not something that happens all that often.

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  6. I can feel my skin sighing with relief when I see that fog rolling in!

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    1. The fog makes such a difference! It didn't clear until after 2pm today. Of course, when it does, we end up with escalating temperatures combined with humidity instead of our usual dry heat. But it's still better - for the plants and us - than the 110F (43C) temperature we had earlier this month.

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  7. Fog is such a wonderful thing! I'm glad it's there to keep the temperatures a bit cooler for you. We had a marine layer this morning that hung on until around 10:30, I think. Tomorrow is supposed to be mercilessly clear and close to 100F, but then we're dropping quickly into the 70's next week. Can't wait!

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    1. Those temperatures in the 70s sound like heaven to me! I hope our marine layer hangs in for awhile longer - 6 to 8 weeks would be nice...

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  8. How wonderful for you to have a gardening task it’s “safe” to do in July and coooler temps in which to do it. Here’s hoping you’ll go back soon and shop the Bromeliad section, I loved what I could see in your nursery photo.

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    1. I hope to pay another visit to that nursery soon, Loree. I entirely forgot about one hanging planter that's in need of a rehab.

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  9. Love your succulent plantings Kris. I've never had much luck with them, mostl likely my fault. Yours are beautiful and I love your fog photo. So serene!

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    1. Fog is a blessing during the summer, Cindy. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  10. What fun to have all of those lovely succulents available. You can actually see them up close and personal. Your new pots look nice. I have some pots that need some attention too.

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    1. I keep saying that I'm going to trim down on the number of pots I have, Lisa, but somehow the trend keeps moving in the opposite direction...

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  11. I probably should also start to put succulent pots in my garden. My neighbour across has like a little home production and sells them. At the moment the only plants which satisfiable grows in our region.

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    1. Succulents can handle hot, dry conditions, Sigrid! I had very few before I loved to my current location just 7 years ago.

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