I used to make dish gardens with succulents and stones and feathers and stuff, years ago.

That was in Santa Cruz CA, real different climate than here! But I so miss working with succulents. So I've gotten totally hooked on these hardy semps, and started playing -- well, y'all have seen Little Rock (which by the way is looking pretty good.)

I wanted to do some containers too, maybe something that can become its own beauty and also provide a growing area for semps and sedums that will get added to the garden here and there.

I've been scrounging for containers and thinking about stuff... I had a conversation with my neighbor the other day -- this is the one with woods in her back yard which provides us with the shady area. I just came out with it: Hey, I'm looking for containers for succulents. Big, small, weird, just so it has drainage.

She said her mom had a bunch of little pots she'd gotten for succulents and never done anything with, would I like those? Yes please.

They showed up on the front porch yesterday. I'll take a picture tomorrow if I remember. I think they may have been designed for bonsai, and they are very little but so are some of these plants! They're also very pretty. Glazed on the outside....

There's also a basket in the shed I've been eyeballing. And another one in the basement I may snatch up though it's a little large for now.

And there's a lovely old rusted shallow wheelbarrow lying around that I think I am going to try to reclaim for a succulent garden. Well, that will take a lot of plant material to fill! or a lot of time.

Anyway, got those little pots, and picked up some pea gravel at the garden center. And just this evening arranged to get some plants -- I have a few but wanted more. ( Oh, big surprise there, right?)

So. Here I go! I'll be playing with putting something together here soon.... And I'm just so tickled about their cold-hardiness. Before when I was working with succulents I didn't know this. Well, I didn't know much of anything. Didn't have a resource like ATP, for one thing.

Pictures to come, soon I hope.

Sounds wonderful, Kyla! You've got a nice neighbor there. Looking forward to seeing the photos!

Okay! Pictures!

I did post a few bad pictures in the Garden Chat and Photos thread, but today they're looking better and I did more stuff, so here we go:


I'm not sure how well this will show up but when I went out this morning, everything looked so happy!

LIttle rollers, globiferum subsp. globiferum and that's a mouthful!


Some other little rollers, 'Emerald Spring':


I understand you can plant these right on rock. I did put a little potting medium there first:


This on the left is Sempervivum 'Oddity' -- I know I'll be able to keep track of that one!


The one on the right is a noid, a really pretty one.

And, I now get to see how these will do in the rain, because it is raining. The teeny ones I just put on the rock might get washed off if it rains hard enough, but I am resisting any impulse to try to protect them. I'm pretty sure I can find any who roll off, and if they do that I'll plant them differently.

I love these little guys!

Cute sempervivum! I've been admiring all the beautiful sempervivum photos that keep getting posted here. A whole category of plants that has heretofore escaped my attention! :-o

Uh-oh.

dum de dum dum.

Doom strikes the house of Catmint. Succulent fever is irresistable!

Bwahahahahaha!

it is really tempting!

they. are. fun. they. are. easy. they. will. TAKE OVER!!!!!!!!



The hardy ones, the semps and sedums (you have sedums I know!) are cool for us because it's something to have during the winter (though I believe they will kind of go dormant? I don't know!)

Okay, the rain didn't disturb any of the little semps, except it did move one, slightly. I am considering it a kind of design tweak from the Universe.

If I win the raffle I am so going to choose the offer from Perennial Obsessions! They have a few hardy succulents that are neither semps nor sedums which are very interesting! And they have a sedum I want, too.

I'm not going to look at any of the prizes so I don't get disappointed if I don't win anything.