Daily Dose Blogger Bios
A Succulent Garden for You!
Okay, I'm always ranting and raving about succulents - but many of you have no experience with them. Let's change that. Here is a tiny tabletop succulent garden that anyone can have. As long as there is a sunny window nearby, it doesn't matter if it is -120F outside... inside, you can have a touch of Palm Springs. Winter is around the corner! It's time to think about what kind of plants are going to follow us inside.
First, gather your materials. Choose two different succulent or cacti varieties - make sure they stay fairly small. The two choices can be anything, the only rule is that they contrast each other as far as shape goes. If one is starfish shape, the other should be globe-y; if one is a rosette, the other should be strappy. I chose a little Aloe brevifolia and a mini barrel cactus, but there are so many things you can use - go to Daniel's Specialty Nursery for a huge selection of desert plants... the best I've seen on the web. Explore! I love the Aloe 'Blue Elf', Agave 'Victoria-Reginae Compacta', Echeveria agavoides, Echeveria subsesselis, Euphorbia ferox, Euphorbia flanaganii, Euphorbia obesa ... the list goes on and on. You can make a fantastic combination from the plants here! You also need a pot or bowl (no hole!)- make it pretty! Next, a bit of cactus mix, a scoop of gravel, and something decorative to top dress the pot (I used seashells I picked up on a beach in Mexico). You can use polished rocks, slag glass, costume jewelry - whatever makes you happy... (more instructions to follow)
First, put a generous layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot (since you don't have a drainage hole, this gravel layer will act as your drain). Next, fill the pot with enough cactus mix so that when you stand your plants on it, they are a little above the lip of the pot. Now, after arranging your plants opposite each other, press down on the plants and the soil to get all the air bubbles out. Put a little more soil on top, and then fill in any space where you see soil with your top dressing pretty things. I'm going to use geodes on the next one I make! Super, cool, no?
Whatever your choices of plant and dressing, this will be a beautiful tabletop garden - a permanent centerpiece for your dining table. I hope some of you make one! If you do, send in a photo to gardening@dominomag.com - I would love to show off your handiwork.
VERY IMPORTANT! Water very sparingly - just moisten the top once a week. Remember, the water stays in the pot, so you won't be needing much. You don't want a little swamp on your table - wait a minute... that could be an idea for another container garden...
See you soon,
Your Germinatrix!
Being an east coast girl, I've never been to Palm Springs or even Los Angeles (though I loved San Diego). Is it true that other than those man made gardens with irrigation, that you have desert or mostly desert conditions? Do the succulents in your arrangement grow there naturally, or are there other native plants there? Pardon my ignorance, but I'm really curious. Thanks!
Hi Simone! There is no ignorence to pardon - this is a very confusing climate. I'm still learning about it. Technically, LA is a subtropical/mediterranean climate- wet winters, hot dry summers. We do have tons of native plant species, but (and here is where I lose the friendship of native plant lovers) most are not attractive, in my opinion. The name says it all - coastal scrub. Scrub. That's how to classify our native plants. That's not to say there aren't great plants in the bunch, there are - California poppies, sages, manzanitas ... but they really aren't my cup of tea. So to answer your question, if all imported water went away, there still be gardens, and succulents would survive. But everything would be green and blooming in the winter, when it is raining and nobody wants to be outside, and brown and crunchy in the summer, when everyone wants to barbeque. Did I answer your question?...I may have gotten off track...
I love Daniels! I bought several hundred cuttings from them and rooted them, planted them in vintage teapots and used them as the centerpieces at my wedding. I still have almost all of them, too! (2 cats, 2 dogs and a super long honeymoon in Portugal did a few in, understandably)
Oh my God that sounds MAGICAL! How very cool of you to use succulents at your wedding - that is so modern. Daniel's is great, isn't it? The sheer variety - and the fact that you can get cuttings! I hope people use the link and get a few things. It's a great way to introduce yourself to the wonderful world of succulents. And then they can take a cue from you and root them in vintage teacups! I just LOVE that idea!
Can I steal it? ;)
Steal away! I wish I had some pictures to direct you towards, but alas, no. We gave a lot of the tea pots away after the reception, people oooed and ahhhed over them the whole time. They're so easy to care for (generally speaking) that I bought them months in advance. . . no worrying about fresh flowers.
You have the spirit of a germinator! right on!