I started a rock garden towards the end of last summer.I have gathered some big rocks & found some driftwood on a camping trip to the lake.I have planted semps,Sedum reflexum 'blue spruce'and a number of different colors of upright sedum, Agastache 'blue fortune' & Penstemon.The last ones i'm using in the back of my bed in order of tallest to shortest coming towards the succulents.

I haven't grown succulents outside in the ground before only grown in pots during summer & then try to over winter and hope i don't have to many die.I am a newbie at rock gardens.I have been given some advice by the nice people on here as well as some idea's.

Now that you see where i'm at with this project,my question is when is the correct time to order succulents and when should they be planted? Is it the same rule of thumb as everything else " after the last frost or danger of any more frost".I have found some cold hardy succulents for my zone that i would like to put in my bed. ''ANY ADVICE ON GOOD GROWING SUCCULENTS'' I never turn down any advice or help i can get to help me with my plants.







I would love to see pictures of how other people have planted semp's in beds or any other way :thumbsup:
The rocks around the bottom in the last picture aren't there permanently.I have 8 semp's planted on that mound,i had my hubby put the rock around it until it settles but you never know in time it may turn out to look good covered in different succulents. :shrug:

Jelinda, what a great start you have on your wonderful rock garden. I am very excited about seeing from the beginning, and getting to watch it grow to maturity.

When does your growing season begin? I see you are in the south and already have some nice warm, spring type weather. Still freezing at night.
This would be a great time to get your new semps into the ground, so they can get a head start on root growth, before the hot weather arrives.
I have received new semps and sedum in January, potted them up (ground was frozen) and set the containers outside in full sun. Great success, by spring/summer they were going great guns.
A few great places for semps:
http://perennialobsessions.com...
http://www.squawmountaingarden... has some nice plants on a special right now. Right side of page click on Specials, down the page a bit you will find the hardy succulents.
http://northhillsnursery.com/
http://www.youngs-garden.com/

Lynn,you asked when my growing season begins well that's kind of hard to answer.I hope we get through Jan. & Feb. without any snow or ice storms then maybe all the new growth won't get killed back.We had a week & a half of warm days as high as 80* a few days,then in the 50* at night.It has started cooling back off.I have some pictures that shows how much of a winter we really get.


It's really strange how you can put something into a computer then loose it or at least that's what i have done.The picture above has bloomed so i have my upright Sedum spectabile 'Neon' in bloom only it's the height you see in the picture. The picture i took of it today i put the memory card into my laptop & poof it's gone.

I work at a much slower pace because of having MS and I have put rock down on the part of my bed that has been planted.It seems to be doing well,everything is coming up a bit early it seems.After cleaning out the bed & finding all the new growth emerging,i just knew it was going to take me forever to get rock down.I took a bunch of little pots & covered each one with a rock on top of flower pot, i went to town putting the pea gravel down.I lifted the pots to unharmed new growth and i think i will be able to do the succulents,semps the same.

I'm going to try to find some plants semp's & different succulents,that are good for beginners.If anyone has an opinion on certain plants being easier than others,please give your opinion.

Nice photos Jelinda! If you're going to plant semps (including Jovibarba) I'd plant them where they can get a bit of shade because of your hot summers I spent a couple of hours this afternoon transplanting some semps and they all were doing great! lots of root activity, even on the ones that didn't look like they'd been doing much - I'm pretty sure that winter/spring is a big growing time for most hardy succulents! Also, I just want to add my 2 cents about Squaw mountain gardens - the guy Don who owns it seems so friendly, I've emailed him with questions and he's been very understanding and replies pretty quickly (I didn't expect him to reply very soon since I know he's busy in the gardens) I've been real happy with the quality of his plants! And I've ordered from Young's and they always give a free plant (something that you didn't order) as a way of saying thanks!
Have fun with your project! looking really good...several more semps and you'll be doing great (haha!) - oh yeah, the other thing is if you can wait until later in the spring when the "plant trading" happens (this will be my first year) you could maybe trade something that you have (other than semps) to get some semps
Cheers (sorry I wrote more than I'd planned!)

All great advice Greg.

Jelinda, Greg is correct in what he said about your harsher summer sun. If the semps could get some filtered shade during the afternoon, it would be beneficial to them.

Also correct about the trading season which will start up this spring.
Only thing you have to be concerned with is trying to get them going during your summer weather. That is why I like to start them in the late winter (Jan or Feb).

We all need to remember to buy from our wonderful online semp nurseries. We need to support them so they can continue providing us with new varieties.