Well here we are almost through the first month of the new year. Happy New Year to all of you (belated), and may this be the best gardening year every for all of us.

I was finally able to get out in the raised beds today. The snow and ice are gone, but it is still pretty cold out. I did manage to work for a few hours today removing the leaf and seed debris from our maple and ash trees that had covered some of the beds. What fun it was to see some of the plants starting to show signs of breaking dormancy. And others that are evergreen and showing their winter colors. This is such an exciting time of year for me.
Just a few photos from today with a report on a sedum that I got last year and is a pile of mush right now.
I look forward to seeing this one in summer leaf color and blooming:


I love the winter colors on this beautiful sedum.


I thought I lost this one last summer during the heat and drought, but here it is. Must have been a small piece that revived when our fall rains began.


There seems to be some confusion on this sedum/petrosedum/rupestre/?
I bought it as 'Lemon Ball' and love it. It makes a very impressive mound about 6 inches (maybe more) tall and about 24 inches across in one season from a 4 inch nursery pot. Pieces root easily, it stays in a tight mound with stunning bright yellow leaves all summer.
Here it is last April. Sorry to say I did not get a photo during the summer or fall when it was so impressive.

And here it is today, a big mushy mess. I does look like there are pieces that are still alive, so I'm hoping it will come back from the roots.


For those that are not buried under snow/ice right now, I would love to see what is happening in your gardens.

My mushiest was sedum confusum, first in the accent garden, then on the table garden:




This makes me sad because it is the showiest sedum I have and won't be looking good in April when y'all come over.

Sedum laxum growing on the table faired much better but I don't like it as much as confusum:



Right offhand I would say my small sedums did ok (hispanicum etc).

Not a sedum but... I just have to say Erica Kramer's Red sailed through it all, blooming like crazy since early December. Highly recommended for winter color:



All of these photos were taken today just before posting here.

Great photos Connie. How sad about the S. confusum. Will it come back?
Your Kramer's Red is beautiful. What sedum is that growing under/around it?
My S. laxum is looking good this year.

I wish it wasn't so cold and damp outside right now. I would love to go out and get some more photos.

I think S. confusum will come back but not look as nice as it did. It always grew in a nice neat rounded mound for me.

The sedum in the last photo is Coral Reef.

It was a nasty winter; I had many days that were 15- 20 deg.

Sorry about S. confusum, Connie. It's one of my favorites also but had not taken to this OR weather for me.

I've lost more than half of my tender succulents (mainly all the echeverias, Crassula arborescens and setulosa, Senecio vitalis, Blue Chalk Sticks, Gollum jade, Gasteria) and some sedum that looked like it bit the dust but maybe not if it is really waiting quietly and out-of-sight for Spring?

Another really favorite, Sedum zentarotashiroi is hanging on by it's fingernails and I'm hoping Spring helps it make a comeback.

I still need to check on S. zentwhateveritiscalled. I'm sure its is in its own large pot. Will do tomorrow. In any event, I can see we have some shopping to do!! Yay!

Bev, so sorry to hear about losing so many succulents. Which echeveria did you lose?
Hmmm, I need to check on my S. zentarotashiroi. It's under the big fir out back. I brought my gollum indoors for the winter this year. Sure glad I did.
I just checked on my echeveria, graptos, confusum and dendroideum . They all seem to be fine, even after the snow blew under the roof and covered them in snow for almost 2 weeks. Must have also given them a drink when the snow slowly melted.
Oh no, I just remembered my C. setulosa. I sure hope I didn't lose that one. It was just starting to look good this last summer.
I think I need to repot them all this spring.

We didn't get much snow here, maybe half an inch to an inch then deep frost. So no protection for anything tender. If I had known confusum would react that way I would have placed cheap moving blankets over them as I did other plants.

I just came back indoors.
I found signs of like for my S. zentarotashiroi hiding under all the tree litter, mostly fir needles.


I am so happy and excited to post that my C. setulosa is alive and well. Thank you sandy loam and lots of chicken grit.


H. anacampseros is waking up.


Almost all of the Hylotelphium types are showing growth popping through the soil. They are sitting there just waiting for some warm weather.

Yay for these hardy sedums of yours, Lynn!!

I am so relieved that the setulosa is alive and well. I have been watching over that one for two years now. Almost lost it in the drought season twice. It seems to finally be making a small colony and getting roots established.

Here are a few more photos I took this morning:
farinosum


laxum


leibergii


nevii


trollii


And one of my favorite S. album types. This one is tough and colorful, changing color through the year.
Twickle Purple


The garden is showing signs of life.

My sedums are doing okay this winter, with the chilly overnights in the 33F to 39F range and this good interval in rains after being so rainy this January, temps rising to 55F to 60F daytime:
Sedum morganianum


Sedum dasyphyllum major


Sedum dasyphyllum minor



Sedum mexicanum


Sedum rubrotinctum


My other succulents are doing okay too, Crassulas, Graptoverias, Gasterias, Pachyveria, Senecios, Echeverias. I am beginning to understand how parched they must have been with our drought, and with the good rainfall, then cool temps and dry intervals, this is what they like more. I am thankful we did not get any 20F's this time, that is often the killer temps for my succulents.

Wonderful to see your succulents Tarev. Do you have to protect your succulents from the rains you got this year?

I lost my beautiful colony of Sedum rubrotinctum this winter. I had it on the deck with the other tender types of succulents that made it through the cold/snow and ice. I think it was just to close to the edge of the covered deck.

Hi Lynn, no, those I leave outside have no protection from the rains and cold. But I do make sure their media is as well draining possible. I was also apprehensive with the rains, the duration was longer and more frequent this winter. But thankfully they survived. I know that when it rains the ground temps stay in the 40F's so it keeps the area warm, ..better warm than chilly. It is the day or two after the rains that is really crucial, we sink back to the low to mid 30's overnight and media is still so wet. The winds helped dry them out nicely, and later the sun is out.

It seems my Aeoniums are the ones pouting more this time, bending badly after being too soggy and wind whipped during the storms, some got chopped off by the winds, so I had shortened them further and allowed to callus. It is their cool weather preference this time, so I have planted those cuttings back.

Just adding, I think it also helped that by this time our city trees are dormant, so there is more sunshine coming into the garden.

Your Aeoniums are so beautiful.
And you certainly have had your share of weather challenges this year.

It seems this is the longest duration that we are sitting in low to mid 30's overnight, since December. Sure is good to see much needed, welcome rains!

Finally found my S. zentarotashiroi. I spent a lot of time looking for it. If I had remembered it was in this pretty blue container my eye would have caught it right away.

It looks to be doing good! No mush, just some leaves are darker colored. It was up against the house under the eaves.

Wow, that is looking GREAT Connie.

I love that plant! Thanks for introducing me to that Lynn!

Is it time to sticky this and unsticky 2016?