Lynda's Succulent Garden Revisited

In July last year, I posted photos of my friend Lynda's succulent garden.  Being both an artist and a perfectionist, she's continued to futz with both her design and her plant selections, which is good for me as every time she's planning a change usually means we make a trip to our favorite succulent garden center in Orange County.  In advance of one such trip, I took photos of the succulent beds in the front of her townhouse.

Her succulent beds are enclosed within tiered, brick-lined planters along the right and left sides of her sloped driveway.  Here's the first tier on the right side.

The bed is tightly packed but the plants are very happy

Close-up of Agave desmettiana, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', Euphorbia tirucalli and Crassula capitella 'Campfire' 

Agave 'Blue Flame', Agave Blue Glow', more Graptoveria and Euphorbia, and Sedum rupestre 'Lemon Ball'

Another view of the plants shown above plus what I think is Agave pgymaea 'Dragon Toes'

The second tier planting bed on the right side featured (past tense) Opuntia santarita.  As it had become impossible to weed around the Opuntia, it was destined for removal when I visited.

Lynda intends to replace the Opuntia with another Agave 'Blue Flame'

Agave desmettiana, Euphorbia tirucalli and Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi 'Variegata' among other smaller succulents (Let me know if you can name the plant in front - I can't identify it Thanks to Jane, the plant in front has been identified as Crassula arborescens 'Blue Waves' aka Crassula ovata undulata)

The condemned Opuntia sandwiched between 2 Euphorbia tirucalli

Manfreda x 'Silver Leopard' backed up by Euphorbia and an unidentified Aloe

The succulent bed on the left side of the driveway is wider and serves as a divider between Lynda's property and that of her neighbor.  

Lynda added beach pebbles to create a pathway she could use when weeding the bed

Agave 'Joe Hoak' provides a focal point in this bed

Aloe cameronii (with what may be a crested Euphorbia in front)

Lynda has used plant repetition and contrasting foliage texture and color to great effect.  Since last July, she has removed the Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' that formerly shared the beds, added lots of rock, rearranged plants and added new ones.  It looks great now and I have no doubt that it'll look great next year too - only probably different.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

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