Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Here is a question I received via my editors:
"Where can I find the cactus shown on the dominomag.com page avertising online ideas and sources? The germinatrix, Ivette Soler says to buy it. I cannot find one. Also, will it grow outside in Denver CO? thanks!"
The Germinatrix, Ivette Soler says to buy Ivette Soler a summer home in Costa Rica! Anyone? Oh, well, at least I tried...
First of all, the image on the page in Domino is an Aloe, which is technically a succulent, not a cactus. Many people would NEVER plant a cactus, but succulents seem to be more palatable. With the high temperatures all over the country this summer, and ever present news of impending drought, I truly think more people in climates that used to be too cold for succulents should give them a try. They'll freeze, so if you live in frost zones, either use them in pots and move them into your garage during the winter, or dig them up and store them once it starts to get cold - you can plant them out again in the spring once chances of frost have passed, just like tropicals. And once you start adding these beauties to your planting repertoire, you'll wonder how you ever gardened without them.
The aloe family is huge - explore! Aloe saponaria is a good one to start with, but Aloe barbadensis, which is the plain old aloe vera, is a gorgeous ornamental - it will send up yellow bloom spikes throughout the summer. The bloom of an aloe is a wonder to behold, and different varieties bloom at different times of the year. I collect them in my back yard garden, where they bloom willy-nilly; but honestly, the blooms are a bonus ...their forms are so architectural, unusual, and incredible that I would plant aloes even if I never saw a flower.
Look online for the biggest variety, but understand that you will most likely be getting very small specimens - but in the world of succulents, that's half the fun - watching these little "pups" grow into majestic adults. Some aloes are huge, some are tiny, most are somewhere in between - and within that I know you'll find one that's just right for you. Here's a few places to start the search:
GoSucculent.com
Daniel's Specialty Nursery
Yucca Do
Oooh, I fell in love with succulents in the run-up to my wedding. My florist, who was fantastic, was showing me all kinds of options for more modern flower choices (the wedding was in a 1910 Long Island mansion so I wanted to balance that with the decorations, just like I'm doing now in my apartment!). One of the things he gave me was a little tiny chicken beak or whatever it's called--that most typical little one? And I stuck it in a glass of water in my office and it TOOK ROOT and grew!!!
Amazing.
We ended up using orchids, by the way. The fat green ones and the stripy green and white lady slippers and the tiny green ones.
Could it have been a "Hen and Chicks", Katef? Chicken Beak... I laughed for about an hour. I think I need to hybridize a special succulent just for you called 'Kate's Chicken Beak'...
Isn't it amazing how these things just GROW? That is one of the reasons I think everybody should try growing them, because they are so forgiving, and they will perform for you, no matter what. The only way you can ruin one is by putting it in the dark, in a bowl full of water. If you take a cutting, just like you did, and put it in a glass with a little water in it on a sunny windowsill - PRESTO! Roots. And you have a plant.
Only a geranium (pelargonium) is that easy...
Sigh... orchids - I'll bet your wedding was pretty - but now the real question ... What was the FOOD like?
Don't forget eBay for occasionally great deals on plants. Check seller ratings and all that.
Sadly, we lost a huge Pride of Madeira. Happily, there's now room for a succulent garden. So last weekend DH and I (mostly he) cleaned up the area and we're ready to plant.
My question is probably a silly one - are those tiny iceplants considered succulents? If so I'd like to use some as ground cover between the bigger plants.
Germie, what do you think?
Karla
Hen and Chicks, right. I'm so lazy--I know I could have googled that!
It was amazing, it kept getting taller and taller. I loved the dusty matte quality and how the edges were tinged with pink or purple.
The wedding food was a tragedy. I knew it would be what I wanted it to be--despite loving food so so much, I ended up having to settle in order to get married somewhere that had the right space and look and where we wouldn't have to bring in everything. I wish, in retrospect, that I had fought to make it work with really amazing food. Everyone who was there seemed to think the food was good/better than usual wedding food but I was disappointed.
Isn't it funny how weddings bring out a regretful tendency in the best of us? Ours was gorgeous, really, but I see other people's super cool weddings on blogs, especially if they had astonishing food (Orangette's recently made me soooo jealous) and I feel kind of glum and sick wishing I'd done whatever differently.
Um, by "I knew it would be" I meant "wouldn't be." Duh.
Susa - I've gotten a couple of beautiful daylilies on ebay - thanks for reminding us of this great source!
Sumcool - that iceplant is Drosanthemum, which is also called dewflower (what a pretty name!) is so gorgeous, and I always think of it when I think of plantings in the central coast. It tends to really take over, so make sure to grow it dry dry dry... I recently planted some in a mix of agaves, junipers, and echiums, and it looks AWESOME. It is a really logical groundcover for succulents - I know you'll make something beautiful!
Katef - How funny, I hear the same thing from my girlfriends - that the food didn't meet their expectations - but my experience of their weddings was so different from theirs; I really think wedding food has become so much better than it was in the past. However, I completely understand the wistfulness of seeing all the perfect weddings in magazines and wanting to do it all again. As for me, I got married by a pagan under a huge tree with just Jan and I in attendance ... well, there were alot of peacocks and wild parakeets there, too. I hope they were happy with the food - which consisted of seeds and earthworms, donated by the garden!
You're so smart- I looked it up by name "Drosanthemum" and there it was!
And thank you for the ideas. There's still an echium right there, only one died (of old age, I think), and we can incorporate it into our plan.