Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Succulent Expansion

In response to our persistent drought, I've been trading out thirstier plants for more drought-tolerant ones where I can.  That's involved the introduction of more succulents.  In some areas, that's just meant the substitution of one or two plants; however, in one section of the back garden I've let the succulents take over.

This is the area in question after I replanted it earlier this week.  The bed is roughly 10 feet long and 4 feet wide.  It's located at the north end of the back garden. 

This is a "before" shot taken in late June.  The white-flowering Argyranthemum shrubs had become woody and were just blah.

This is a more recent "before" shot taken in late September.  I replaced the Argyranthemum with an Echibeckia and coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides 'Rustic Orange') in July, filling in with Dymondia margarete and Gazania 'Yellow Flame'; however, the Echibeckia needed way too much water and the coleus never developed well.

The area is shaded about half the day so I focused on Mangaves as my focal plants as they can take a bit of shade here.  I selected smaller succulents of various kinds to complement the Mangaves.

This photo was taken in late afternoon after I finished replanting the area on Monday.  I left most of the existing Dymondia, Gazania, Cerastium tomentosum (snow-in-summer), and Thymus serpyllum (creeping thyme) in place.

View of the same area looking east.  I transplanted all the orange coleus into the bed beyond surrounding a Melianthus major I cut back last month.  So far it's hanging on!

On the north end of the bed, I used three Mangave 'Frosted Elegance'.

I received 3 'Frosted Elegance' Mangaves I'd ordered by mail last week.  The specimen on the right is a plant I'd ordered from the same source a few months ago to give you a better idea of what it looks like after it's settled in.  I love this Mangave.

Clockwise from the upper left, I filled in the gaps around the 'Frosted Elegance' Mangaves with: Haworthia limifolia (1), Haworthia 'Savanna' (1), Sedum acre 'Elegans' (5), Sempervivum 'Bernstein' (1), and several cuttings of Aeonium 'Kiwi' (not shown) 

I used a potted Mangave 'Crazy Cowlick' in the middle of the bed to provide some height.

'Crazy Cowlick' is surrounded on 3 sides by one of my favorite succulents, Crassula orbiculata var rosularis

On the south end of the bed, I used a mix of three Mangaves.

Left to right are: Mangave 'Blazing Saddles' (I think), M. 'Freckles & Speckles', and M. 'Lavender Lady''Freckles & Speckles' is new to my garden but the other 2 are not.

What I've decided is probably 'Blazing Saddles' (left) was labeled as 'Red Wing' by the seller but I'm fairly certain that's an error.  I have several 'Red Wing' (one of which is shown on the upper right) and it doesn't have speckles.  The underlying red stripe in the middle of the leaves is what led me to conclude that it's probably 'Blazing Saddles' (like the stressed specimen on the middle right) even though it bore some similarity to 'Painted Desert' (bottom right).

Comparison of the new Mangave 'Lavender Lady' (left) and my older specimen (right)

I filled in between the 3 Mangaves on the south end of the bed with: Echeveria apus (1), Echeveria 'Hookeri' (3), and Kalanchoe marmorata 'Partridge' (3)


I did a little replanting in my south side garden as well, removing a couple of unhappy daylilies and adding succulent cuttings.

This is an "after" shot

Clockwise from the upper left, the cuttings included: Aeonium 'Kiwi', Aeonium 'Sunburst', Agave attenuata 'Raea's Gold', and a noID Aloe


I've still got lots of holes in my garden but I haven't been able to find some of the plants I had in mind to fill those vacancies and I'm still looking for inspiration in other instances.  I may have to wait until spring to get what I want but I'm continuing the hunt, at least for a time.  I'm off to yet another garden center with a friend today!


All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

23 comments:

  1. I do love the blue hues of the succulents you selected in this bed. Beauty aside, this is another step in making your garden very water-smart. The tiny noID Aloe is so cute... and dangerous... is the fantastic orange color do to sun exposure, or lack of it?

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    1. The low-growing parent plant I took the Aloe cutting from is perpetually orange, although I can't remember if it was that orange when I originally planted it. It's in an area that gets shade part of the day so, if its color is caused by stress, it's probably due to water limitations.

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  2. Kris, this looks SO NICE! I really love what you've done here. Looking forward to seeing it in person someday soon.

    I agree with your ID of Mangave 'Blazing Saddles' vs. 'Red Wing'. Clearly a case of mislabeling.

    In my experience, the mangaves with blue and green leaves can tolerate a fair amount of shade. The spotted ones typically look better with more sun because UV light brings out the red and purple coloring.

    Re: Echibeckia. Did you get rid of it altogether? I've been tempted to try one, but I know from experience that echinaceas and rudbeckias aren't exactly dryland plants.

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    1. Honestly, I can't say that the Echibeckia looked very good even after just 2-3 weeks in the ground. Although the location it was in gets regular irrigation, that wasn't sufficient to keep it happy - I was hand-watering it above and beyond that about twice a week. My soil is definitely on the sandy side, which was probably a factor, along with winds that regularly blow through here so your experience could be different. I've grown Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' successfully in the past as a short-lived perennial but that was before I ratcheted down my water use with the declaration of severe drought in 2015.

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    2. Rudbeckia hirta is part of Echibeckia's parentage and is not particularly drought tolerant

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    3. I knew the Echibeckia was probably a mistake but couldn't resist trying it. Sadly, it didn't even hold up as well as Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' but then I think I grew that before the 2015 drought.

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  3. Nice new additions, Kris. It makes sense to move toward greater drought tolerance. A few more cacti (barrel cacti?) and you'll have the makings of a bonafide desert botanical garden. :)

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    1. I like barrel cacti, Eliza, but I've never felt I had the right spot for them, except perhaps for the back slope, an area I've largely ignored since last year. However, I may eventually get around to replanting that area, assuming I can get the fire ants there to give me a break. I did buy that nice pot of Pilosocereus azureus but I don't want to hide that away on the back slope and, given that it can get 12 feet tall, I think it's advisable to plant it somewhere relatively flat anyway.

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  4. Very nice. No matter what you do, your designs and plans seem to work so well over time. Weather changes are frustrating. We're in a part of the country that, with climate change, seems to be shifting back and forth between deluge years and drought years, with fewer "normal" years. So, the best plants seem to be hardy native perennials and annuals.

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    1. That switch between drought and flood cycles is expected to become the norm here too, Beth, except that the stretches of drought are likely to be more prolonged here (that is with years of drought between floods). NorCal may get near "normal" rain this year but the prognosis for SoCal given the persistence of La Nina conditions isn't good. I lost 2 more native plants this year so all bets are off as to what'll work in the long term.

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  5. Oh, nice! Hope you had a great day romping around nurseries in good company! I'm always astounded by how many different Mangaves there are. I love all the different patterns and colors, and I'm bummed that I can't seem to keep any of them alive. Your garden looks fabulous as always, Kris!

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    1. Mangaves are multiplying like proverbial rabbits, Anna. Every time I turn around, I discover a new hybrid, only a small portion of which I've collected - thus far ;)

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  6. I was admiring the mangaves in Gerhards garden (via a blog post) and now here are more in yours. They look fantastic now but are going to be really stunning in a few months.

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    1. Like Leucadendrons, I can no longer tally all the Mangaves I've collected in my head; however, Gerhard is still WAY ahead of me. He's got varieties I've never even heard of anywhere else.

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  7. Looks great Kris. I seem to have better luck with my Mangaves if they get some shade. There are exceptions-'Bloodspot' and 'Lavender Lady' are getting the full sun treatment. I think your new area looks great-a nice selection of plants.

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    1. Thanks Kathy. I've also found that some, like 'Kaleidoscope', also prefer life in pots rather than in the ground.

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  8. That wide expansive look, to protect your husband's views, is something I have always admired about your garden.

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    1. Fortunately for me, it's only the east views of the harbor that my husband insists on preserving.

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  9. Fabulous! I adore all these succulents, what an amazing collection you have, many of them I have never seen before.

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    1. There are no shortages of succulents here, Chloris! I've been wondering if Mangaves (intergeneric hybrids of Agaves and Manfredas) have crossed the pond yet. Perhaps not. They became the "it" plants here a few years ago but even I can't keep up with the number of varieties out there now.

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