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.
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| 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'. |
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
