Succulents

This is just a quick post on my new-found love of succulents. Before recently I associated succulents with desert settings, Las Vegas back yards and rock gardens ... none of which I found appealing or wanted to have any of in my growing mixed border approach to my home garden.

I was really having a hard time with certain containers around my home. They would dry out so fast and if I missed them for just a day at times they were wilting and turning brown. This was really getting annoying and I had to think of something new or get rid of the containers that were causing me too much anxiety.

I then ran across a few succulents at my local garden center and had an ah-ha moment. I would group succulents together to look like not succulents. Okay, that grammar is horrible but that is exactly the way I thought about it. My first two attempts are below. Although they are still succulent-like, they are really something I am enjoying quite a bit. I barely water either of these containers and they have NEVER wilted or turned brown or ... well, anything but stay just the way they are. I am seriously considering trading out all of my containers for succulents. I just need to run across (a) a good place to get nice sized succulents in my area -- Houston -- since they grow quite slow and (b) discover different varieties that look so not succulent-like.

Below is a container that I have in front of my home on the walkway leading to my front door. The exact duplicate of this container is three feet away to the right on the other side of the walkway. I planted these containers three weeks ago and have watered them once. I LOVE IT!! The spiky plant is a yucca that had the word "soft" in its name referring to the soft spikes that droop more like a grass than an agave. The other little plant is a variegated sedum (not sure of the name.)

Okay, below is my pride and joy. This is the gate that opens up into my side garden leading to my backyard. All that is in this container to insulate this wire basket is a plastic bag covered with bagged moss and some potting soil. Before I could not water the plants in this rigged setup often enough. They ALWAYS looked horrible after the first week of planting. I have no idea what the names of these plants are, besides the agave, but they are always in the succulent aisle at Home Depot and Lowes. The picture -- I am not good at photography or zooming pictures, etc., on my computer -- does not do this justice. It is really a beautiful container!!

If anyone knows of a good place to get really great succulents in the Houston area, please let me know. I am in love with these things and want some nice sized plants for my other containers.

Thanks - Vikki