I have 2 but not crazy about them, just don't like the way they grow. Will not buy any more. They get big, and bare in the middle and around the bottom.

I guess mine didn't last long enough to find that out. I remember one of them turned all black when it froze.

They have to have good drainage.

Guess I won't be growing hebes, but there are a whole lot of plants out there that I don't know about or how to grow.

After I get the garden mulched and those hens and chicks planted, I'll be asking for all kinds of suggestions. I really don't know how to go forward.

I love the succulents, but am afraid I don't have the right climate for them. Too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

Smiles,
Lyn

webesemps said:Looks like some good beds to plant, Billy. I like the small round bed in the first picture.
I have had my semp bed for 2 years now and it is never finished with all the plantings. Semps die, new ones get planted and then get moved and the planting never ends.

Here's my bed from September of last year. The coloring of the bed now is the same as everything now has become green; This year, I've also lost about 30 semps to the heat and I have since started to put a rock dressing on top so that the soil doesn't dry out so fast in the afternoon sun. I also place a shade cloth on top of the bed every afternoon until the sun moves off the bed.

Very nice, I love you bed, Also for helping me with what to do with the heat of the sun.Billy

gg5 said:Wow Billy - your beds look great!!! Love the greenhouse also!
Bev love your bed also!! Everything looks good!

Thanks , started putting some in the beds, Have to get a shade cloth to help with the noon sun.Will up load new pictures soon. Thanks for everything

RoseBlush1 said:Greg ...

Thank you for the encouragement. I feel like I am running a marathon and the next couple of days are going to be horrific.

This is a photo of one of the plants I purchased a while back .. and didn't get potted up because I couldn't get the right materials for planting. I took this photo when I first brought it home.



This is the other impulse purchase



A gardening friend gave me this tiny plant in a two inch pot in early spring. It's one of the plants I potted up tonight. One of the babies fell off so I put more soil in the 2" pot and just put it on top. I really don't know if it will live.



I have been planning to plant this out since last summer, but last year simply was not a good gardening year for me due to health. I want to find a place to put it in the ground. Right now, the pot is sitting under the redbud tree.



This is another one that a friend gave me last year that hasn't found it's home and is sitting under the redbud tree.



AND ....

This is 'Dragon's Bud', which I also want to get into the ground somewhere and the pot is under the redbud tree.




Of course, I don't know how to plant them out. It's just that I am having to re-mulch the whole garden because my mulch has disappeared in all of this heat and is no longer retaining moisture in the soil. Of course, I can't buy mulch up here either and have to go get it and haul it back to the house.

If they are safe, I won't worry about them and will just keep running. If I need to do something to get them through this week, until I can find time to work with them, I'll carve out the time. I just don't know what I am doing with these plants.

Smiles,
Lyn

They look great, You doing better then I am, I think I am just going not to water them for a long while and see what happens.

RoseBlush1 said:Greg ...

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just knowing they can wait while I deal with the mulch crisis really makes me feel better about them. I was feeling quite guilty because I forgot they were in the woodshed.

Then when Bev said they didn't like being moved around a lot and I've been moving them a lot ... I thought it might be the kiss of death ...

I didn't know that yuccas or agaves could handle my cold winter temps. Guess I will have to do a lot more research. One of things I like about ATP is that I am always learning about new plants. This is my first in ground garden and I am a novice gardener who just happens to know a lot about roses.

Part of my pending plan D is to find a way to make pockets in the rock borders I have made around the rose beds. I've got to watch the light to see if they will get enough shade in the afternoon.



>>>>the yellowie ground cover looks like 'Angelina'

Oh, good. It has a name ! The other part of pending Plan D is to use that plant to line the path I need to make under the dogwood tree so that I can get back in there and utilize the shade of that tree. I've cleaned out most of the vinca you see in the photo below and plan to line the path with more rock and thought that plant could be worked in along the path.



The petals you see are from the dogwood. I think I have to move the dutch irises to the back of the bed. I know I want to remove a large mahonia plant to make room for more shade plants. I have two more heucheras to go in that bed.

I thought I'd plant 'Dragon's Blood' in front of 'Silver Scrolls'... per Bev, I've got that pot sitting in front of SS.



I also purchased two wood fruit cases that I planned to line with nylon window screen to hold the soil in place to try to make one of Bev's living pictures. I bought them before I found out I couldn't find the right planting materials.

Even tho' I am in a holding pattern for the semps, I certainly appreciate the suggestions because I'll be thinking about the next project which will be the Hens and Chicks.

@valleylynn, Lynn and @webesemps, Bev ... thank you for the "Welcome". I can tell I am going to need your coaching. I feel like an idiot in training.

Smiles,
Lyn

Thank you for sharing I love them all. Billy

Billy ....

Thank you ever so much for the complements. I am still running the mulching marathon. I've brought home 18 bags of mulch and decided to use compost in the rose bed out front with the gopher problem.

I still can't find course sand up here to mix in with the planting soil and still haven't gotten the plants in the photos above planted. I'll have to ask some specific questions when I get to that project later in the week. So far, they are still alive.

I've got three days of temps in the low 90s instead of the low 100s. Maybe I can work longer and get all of the mulching done. I still don't have enough mulch for the whole garden, but I figured I'd get as much down as possible before the next heat wave. Also, tomorrow is deep watering day.

I guess I am saying, I still need all of the encouragement you wonderful people have been giving me. With your help, I'll get there.

Smiles,
Lyn

I think I can plant my semps tonight, if I have any energy left, or tomorrow morning. I am still mulching, but night temps are cooler for two more nights, so , I can work in the evening. Day temps are in the 80s for today and tomorrow, then it's back up to the triple digits.

I have read all of the articles on ATP. Some say to just mist new plants others say to water them in a bit. Several say "soil", but I can't quite figure out the right mix to use. I do know it has to drain fast.

This morning I went out and gleaned some dg or very gritty sand.

Now, I have gritty sand, grit, light potting soil, heavier potting soil, perlite and rocks for top mulching and a couple of wide containers. I should be ready to go, so now for the specific questions.

I need to know the soil mix.

When potting up the plants in the four inch pots, do I just pot up the whole thing without messing with the roots at all, or do I try to separate the chicks ?



These are the photos I took two weeks ago .. the plants are already bigger ........

Is this one too wet ?



The 'Dragon's Blood' is looking kind of leggy. I have some meat trays saved and can lift them out of this pot and plant them in the trays. Do I need to make drainage holes in the trays ? Or is this pot of DB still OK ?



Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Smiles,
Lyn

You are really going to town Lyn.

The first photo does look a bit wet to me. Especially if very high temps are on the way. Don't expose the container to full sun, let the soil dry out before watering again. In high temps I think I would just mist the container early in the morning, just enough that the top of the soil looks moistened. Maybe some other members will show up that are in areas with your type of weather, and will be able to give better advice for your conditions.

Your Dragon's Blood looks like it needs a bit more sun? Any container you put it in will need drain holes, otherwise the roots could rot. Also the color is not right for Dragon's Blood. But I can't tell if it is pale from lack of sun? I looks like the edges of your are smooth, instead of toothed? Hard to tell from the photo. Maybe you could get us a close up of some of the leaves?
Here is what it should look like. Two-Row Stonecrop (Phedimus spurius 'Schorbuser Blut')

Hi Lynn....

>>>>>The first photo does look a bit wet to me.

I thought so, too. It was one of my first mistakes. I potted that one up from a 2" pot and hadn't read about misting transplants at that time and watered it ... ooops ! The good news is that the stuff I used for potting soil drains very, very fast. It is too course.

What soil mix should I do for the 4" potted ones that I am going to pot up ?

I still need to know if I should separate them, which equals messing with the roots or just put them in the larger container with more soil around them and top dress them with stones.

I am not worried about "pretty" right now. I just want to keep things alive until cooler weather.

Re: Dragon's Blood. I know it hasn't gotten enough sunlight. My day temps have been running between 100F to 110F. I didn't dare leave it out in the sun. It would have fried. I've got leaf scorch on some plants that have never had a problem in the garden with their siting, but this year is running about 10 degrees hotter than the norm.

There is another issue with DB. It's been in that pot for a year. I've never fed it. It's the plant I was going to move to the meat trays ... no problem poking holes in them for drainage. I know I can't feed them when I first move them, but how do you feed them and what do you feed them ?

We have a dry thunder storm coming through and I need to get off of the computer.

I'll get back to you later.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn, I would think that your "fast draining" soil mix that you mentioned should be good for repotting the 4 in pots. Are you planting into ground or into containers? Same soil should do for them.

Regarding separating the offsets: Do you want to have that colony look/formation to them?...If so, then repot into larger container/ground so they will grow into that shape making sure that chicks have contact with the soil if possible so that they can root.

If you want more specimens in different pots or in different area in the ground to spread that particular semp variety, then separate the chicks off mother and plant elsewhere.

If you re-pot the sedum the new soil should have sufficient nutrients without worrying about fertilizer.

For your sempervivum potting mix, you can add some of the gritty sand with the potting soil. I am not sure what the difference is between light and heavy potting mix?
You can even add some of the grit to the mix. You can top dress with the grit or pea gravel/small rocks.
You can pot up the entire colony as is, or separate and plant separately. Just depends on what you want to do.
The individual rosettes will grow larger is separated and given room to grow. But it is also interesting to see them grow in a colony.

Bev we cross posted. Great advice.

Thank you Bev and Lynn.

I do hope to ultimately plant them in the ground, but plan to follow Bev's advice about putting them into containers and moving the container around to find the spot in my hot garden where they will be happy.

As to what kind of look I want ??? Heck, right now, I just want to keep them alive. I'll be thinking more creatively once I get the garden mulched ...

Since I have a choice of separating them or not, that tells me they don't mind having their roots messed with. That helps. Some of the chicks look like they are ready to fall off, so they may end up in smaller pots ...

The two different kinds of potting soil is just what I have on hand. The difference between light potting soil and heavy potting soil is drainage. The light stuff drains too quickly for me to keep a small plant moist in my hot temps with watering once a day. The heavy stuff seems to drain too slowly so that I have to worry about root rot. I usually mix the light stuff with heavy stuff to get sufficient drainage so I don't kill plants by over watering, but don't have to water the container several times a day when the temps are in the triple digits. When I run out of what I have on hand, I'll try and buy a brand that I don't have to fuss with to get the right drainage.

Thank you again for your support. I'll try and take photos after I have everything potted up.

Oh ... I forgot ... If I set 'Dragon's Blood' out in the sun in the mornings and move it to shade in the afternoons, do you think it would get it's red color back ?

Smiles,
Lyn

Can't wait to see the updated photos Lyn.

Sun should bring out more color in your Dragon's Blood. Maybe morning sun?

Hi all ... I've got them planted ! No, I am not done mulching, but I just couldn't leave them in those four inch pots any longer. It was killing me.

Lynn ... you asked for photos, but you are going to get photos and questions. I do hope you don't mind.

My day temps have been hovering around 100F and I have all of the containers you will see under the dogwood tree. I didn't want to test them in their possible new sites until they had settled into the containers.

To me, the are all NOID plants.

This is the first photo of NOID # 3 that I posted before I potted it up into a potting mix that I think is quite course and doesn't seem quite right. It's the first one I transplanted.



In it's new pot:



One of the babies fell off, so I put it into the two ince pot I took the original plant from and have been misting it. It's not dead, but it doesn't look like it is rooting.



This is NOID # 4

It originally had a lot of little ball like things on it. When I took this photo none of the little balls could be seen as it was outgrowing it's 4" pot:


One of them fell off and I set it in this little pot and have been misting it.



When I took it out of it's 4" pot, it kind of fell apart. I put most of it in one container with a couple of the broken parts along the edge of the container, and then put some of the other broken bits in smaller pots.



The little parts in other pots:



This is the one I call NOID # 5



It didn't fall apart when I took it out of the 4" pot, so I planted the whole thing in one container:



Now for the questions.

With my high temps and dry climate is misting them enough while they are settling ?

Should I water NOID # 5 since it's root ball did not fall apart ? The center plant looks droopy to my untrained eye.

How long before I stop misting and actually water them ?

When is it safe to start moving them out of the shade to places where they might be actually planted into the ground as their permanent home ?

Smiles,
Lyn

PS ... I haven't done anything with the Dragon's Blood or the Angelina semps ... are those semps ?

Dragon's Blood and Angelina are both sedum, very different from sempervivum, and usually much easier to grow than sempervivum in your growing conditions.

Noid 3:
Looking good, except you might be keeping it to wet. What time of the day are you misting, and how often?
The little offset looks healthy. Cut off the stem, leaving just a short nub. Set it upright on it's bottom. It will soon start forming roots. Just don't keep it wet. Let it dry out between mistings.

Noid 4:
It is looking rather pale and etiolated, from lack of enough light and maybe to much water?
The little offset placed into a small pot is more correct looking. Be careful to not over water, and maybe give the etiolated ones some morning sun?

Noid 5:
This one also looks to be suffering from lack of enough light, it looks pale and etiolated. That would be why the offset stolons are so long, and the offsets are not forming nice plum rosettes. Be careful not to water to much. This one might also benefit from some morning sun.

I hope this has been helpful?

Thank you, Lynn.

I am misting them only once in the morning .. about 7 am, then I am working on the mulching project until about 11 am. By that time, it's very close to 100F. That project is kind of like running an awful marathon.

I've only been misting them once a day.

Thanks for letting me know what to do with the little offset ... I am going to learn what to call the different parts of the plant ..

I am certain they are getting more light now that they are planted out into containers. When they were in the 4" pots, I had them hidden from all baking sun until I could get to them. They will be getting more light just by being under the dogwood tree ... it's not deep shade.

Should I cut off the elongated offset stolons and let the plant form new ones ?

How do you know when they need to be watered ?

Should I just go ahead and place the containers in the sites where I hope to be able to plant them, or should I wait a bit ? They have only been in the containers for a few days.

Yes, Lynn, your answers have helped. I don't know why I am so nervous about getting this right. Thank you so much for your support.

Smiles,
Lyn