Dollar Store Succulents

I love going to the local 99 cent store. They have some really good deals and sometimes they have plants. I was just going to get a couple, but I felt bad leaving the other ones behind. Shall we play a game of ID the succulent? My best guesses are underneath the pictures. That Sunburst Aeonium from last week seems to be better. The spots have faded and it's turned into the sun from its shady position.

Crassula rupestris

Crassula?

Kalanchoe millotii

Aeonium sp

Echeveria elegans?

Evil Squirrels and Plagues!

This is a call for some help here. Squirrels have been digging up one of my pots, taking plants out, and nibbling on the leaves. I've sprinkled black pepper around and in the pots, but I don't know if that will work. The other problem I have is that my Aeonium "Sunburst" has a bunch of black spots that look like bruising on most of the leaves. Is it too much sun? Is it hail damage from the rain on Sunday? Is it a disease? I've brought it into the shade and I'm really hoping it will recover. Does anyone know what it is?

My first cactus

I don't generally do cacti because I fear the spines. However, on my trip to the desert botanical gardens I found the perfect cactus for me. I bought an Astrophytum asterias home from the gift shop. This spineless cactus was really cute.

Astrophytum asterias "Sand Dollar Cactus"

Valentine's Gift

On Valentine's day my boyfriend gave me three succulents instead of the usual bouquet of flowers. I thought it was really sweet and thoughtful of him. I just finished potting them up last week. I think the pot came out great.

Kalanchoe luciae "Flapjacks"

The Flapjacks were a very pale blue/green when they arrived. After being moved into full sun, they've been turning this great bright red.

Crassula lycopodioides "Watch Chain"

I love the texture and color of this plant. This plant is also known as Crassula muscosa. It adds some unique structure to the pot.

Sedum rubrotinctum "Sedum Brown Bean"

This is a great plant with tiny little leaves. I think it looks like a bunch of grapes. I have to admit that I'm a bit confused as to the difference between this "Sedum Brown Bean" and the "Pork and Beans" that I have. They were both labeled with the same scientific name, but they look very different.

The finished product - My Valentine's Day pot

Desert Botanical Gardens

My boyfriend and I went to DBG on Sunday. It poured the night before, but the rain was expected to leave by 11am. So we went to a nice breakfast then headed to the gardens. The rain kept going until just before we had to leave at 3:30. I'm glad they had umbrellas to rent. It is amazing how the desert smells when it rains. They had some really huge plants and so many trails. We didn't have time to see it all so we're going to have to go back. We got the family membership package so we'll definitely be back a few more times.

Aloe Flowers

Aloe Flowers

Starting to clear up

Huge Agave

Desert landscape

That cactus was huge!

A few of the cacti were in flower

Golden Barrel Cactus

A nest tucked into a Cholla

I hate that I missed this exhibition

The sun finally came out!

Pots for Plants or Plants for Pots?

On Monday I found myself at Lowe's to see the amazing succulent display that my coworker told me about. I did pretty well; I only came out with three plants. I got a Senecio scaposus 'Silver Coral', an Aeonium tabuliforme, and a Sedeveria 'Blue Mist'. I was going to put them all together, but I realized that the Aeonium would need more room since it grows out like a flattened plate and needed extra care during its' summer dormancy. The plan was to put the Senecio scaposus and Sedeveria together, that is until I found this one Nautilus pot at Marshalls. I became completely enamored with the idea of putting the Senecio scaposus in this pot. There was no drainage hole (of course) but I would figure something out. When I got home the pot fell and smashed into pieces. I was devastated. After a couple of minutes I gathered myself and the pieces and started gluing them together. There was one small piece that I chose to not put back along the bottom to get some drainage.


To further update, my Delosperma nubiqenum and Aloinpsis luckhoffii aren't looking so hot. They look a little yellow. I withheld water for 2 weeks but that didn't seem to help. It rained a bit yesterday and today so maybe that will help. I started to worry about my Baby Toes Fenestraria aurantiaca even though it looks really great. As a mesemb they will need a more strict water regime than the other pot members so I took it out to give it an individual pot. The Sedeveria 'Blue Mist' took the Baby Toes spot in the community pot.

Aeonium tabuliforme

Pots for everyone!

My boyfriend finally came over with his drill and we put holes into some pots that I bought. Can anyone tell me why most of the pretty pots have no drainage holes?

This is the new patio design. It creates a green and welcoming space.

This is the Aloe Vera that was over watered. I repotted it in a new pot with better soil and more drainage.


Lithops and Argyroderma pot

This is an awesome metallic pot

Neat twisty pot with Graptopetalum paraguayense "Ghost Plant", Echeveria "Perle von Nuremburg", Echeveria 'Haageana' "Green Goddess", Echeveria "Violet Queen", and a Sempervivum sp

I found this neat stand at Goodwill.

This is going to be my bonsai, once I find a bonsai pot.

I planted Stegosaurus here with the groovy purple gravel.

This Aeonium 'Sunburst' followed me home (there's a little Pachyveria 'blue pearl" in there too)

This empty pot had a Portulacaria afra 'variegata' jump in.

Remember that Haworthia attenuata that I took out of the big group pot? I meant to put it in its' own pot. During the trip to Home Depot to buy a bit that could drill through my pots, my boyfriend found a Faucaria tuberculosa "Tiger Jaws" that he loved. Of course I had to get it for him. Next to this Tiger Jaws was a "Fairy Washboard" Haworthia limifolia that caught my eye with its wonderful pattern of swirling stripes. So my little Haworthia attenuata wound up with roommates.

Shady Crew

Faucaria tuberculosa "Tiger Jaws"

"Fairy Washboard" Haworthia limifolia

Three, er, four new pots

I really meant to only make a new Aeonium pot. It turned into another big bowl community PLUS a mostly Aeonium pot. Target had a parcel of awesome mimicry plants. They had Lithops and Argyroderma so I needed to make a pot just for them. I've wanted Lithops for about 9 years, ever since I learned about their existence in undergrad.



This bowl has some more delicate plants and I may have gotten in over my head. I just love all of these colors and textures.

Echeveria Doris Taylor "Woolly Rose", Graptoveria "Moonglow", Fenestraria aurantiaca "Baby Toes", Senecio sp. "mini blue chalk fingers", Aloinopsis luckhoffii, Sedeveria Hybrid "Harry Butterfield", Delosperma nubiqenum, Crassula perforata variegata, Senecio citriformis, Graptopetalum pentandrum superbum

The middle of this pot is waiting for a Crassula argenta monstrosa that I have to break up. I'm going to have one for the community pot and one for a bonsai pot. My boyfriend is taking one to bonsai too.


I did finally get some Aeonium sp. I got an Aeonium arboreum "Tricolor" and a "Blushing Beauty" hybrid. They're planted with Greenovia aurea "Green Rosebuds" and Haworthia retusa acuminata variegata "White Ghost".


There is one more pot that I created today. This one is strictly an Aeonium pot that was inspired by the one little Aeonium sp (I think maybe an Aeonium 'Zwartkop') I found last week and the Aeonium percarneum 'Kiwi' I found last night.

I also found a neat square twisting pot at Goodwill that will become a home for some Echeveria and Sempervivum this weekend. My other neat find last week was this Sedum praeltum cristata. I love the cristata form on this plant. It looks like a little stegosaurus.

Roar!

Cute little Aeonium 'Kiwi'

It starts

One day I saw the cutest little stripey "aloe". It was dark with these great contrasting white stripes. It turned out to be a Haworthia fasciata. While looking for this plant I found many other appealing beauties and decided on a large bowl for a succulent community.

Anacampseros rufescens, Crassula agrentea compacta, Echeveria derengerii , Echeveria subsessillis, Crassula dubia, Graptosedum "California Sunset", Haworthia fasciata, "Living rock" Pleiospilos nelii, Echeveria "Olivia", Sempervivum sp., Echeveria shaviana "Pink Frills", Sedum pachyphyllum

I got a second set of the Pleiospilos and put them in thier own pot because I thought that they would get too much water in the community pot. The top guy of the four in the community pot shriveled and died. Interestingly the guys in the community pot look better than the ones that have their own pot.

After top dressing

I put this pot in a more sunny location for the rest of winter a few days ago.The Haworthia was taken out of the pot today after I started to get worried that it might get too much sun. I replaced it with a Senecio haworthii that I bought last weekend.