Thursday 9 August 2012

succulents lovin' heat

Summer has been packing on the heat in the last couple of weeks and I am loving it! And so are the succulents and my new opuntia!!! This little guy was planted Mickey Mouse ears out.  Do you see the Mickey Mouse?! I think this opuntia was subliminally speaking to me when I picked it up. "Whose the leader of the club whose made for you and me? M  I  C  K  E  Y M  O  U  S  E ... Mickey Mouse (lalala) Mickey Mouse (lalala) forever let us hold the banner high!"

when I planted one of my sedum palmeri this bit broke off and has rooted in place quite nicely. And it seems to like the heat just fine!  I often find myself thinking in terms of winter hardiness and wet, but the other piece to that puzzle is summer warmth and drought.


This little guy has been fighting its way through the heuchera ... another reason to dislike heuchera.

This poor little aloe aristata is under constant squirrel attack. They seem to like digging and pilfering from around it.  Thankfully, it doesn't seem to mind too much.

I am soo excited about this stellar echeveria glauca. It's hard to tell but the one rosette is about the size of a dinner plate!


And with the recent heat spell these echeveria have put out even more blooms!



And same with this little aloe...

I can't even tell you the amount of joy this succulent bowl has brought this summer. Each and every morning I find myself admiring its morning glow.


And remember my succulent wreath?! Well it did find it's home hanging in one of the palm trees. The sun actually did some damage to it. Apparently it dries out quicker than I expected in the full sun.

This sedum palmeri is in part sun and doesn't seem to mind. I was worried it might get too leggy looking if you know what I mean.  But so far so good.

And here is one in full sun. This one has a slightly lighter green colour and seems to have spread out more rather than fill out like the one in part sun.


I'm just noticing that my Aloha lilly is blooming!!! Brilliant!


14 comments:

  1. Very nice......happy little plants!!!!

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    1. Thanks! they do seem quite happy this year. Though things got off to a slow start, once that warmth hit on July 4th everything went into high gear.

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  2. Your garden looks incredible Louis! And yay to Mickey finding his home! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Oh and your wreath you made looks super groovy on your palm. :)

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    1. YAY! thanks! I looove the wreath! next year I think I'm going to make them as gifts for gardening friends

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  3. Love that Mickey Mouse Opuntia and it's wicked spikes! Not a cuddly Mickey that's for sure!

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    1. Thanks!! I know first hand of the wickedness.... But I still love it. Opuntia 'Mickey Mouse' is the official ID that I'm going with.

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  4. Cute Mickey! I particularly love your succulent wreath!

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    1. thanks so much. The succulent wreath was really easy to make with some spare sempervivums and sedums. I would love to make a less hardy version next summer. Or do a mix with a few really colourful echeveria or something.

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  5. I often see mickey-mouse opuntia, but I never have seen anyone prune them that way. Would be great if it were a hedge of mickey mouse cacti!

    Nice selection, and something else about sunburn on some plants - your day length is way longer than ours at lat 35N.

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    1. Mickey opuntia hedges would be super fun. I'm surprised disney isn't on to that one! could you imagine gardening for disney!?! Imagine having a HUGE budget and the imperative to dream and think big! WOW! thats the dream!

      I never thought about our long daytime and sunburn!! good point!

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  6. Lovely echeveria's in the garden and busy little bowl with all sorts of wonders. Very nice. Love the sempervivums as well. LT

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    1. Thanks! echeverias are such beautiful plants! I love how many different beautiful varieties there are; each with their very own personality. And they survive on neglect which is a bonus :)

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  7. I brought back a variety of Prickly Pear Cactus pad from Tenerife this past February when my wife and I went on Holiday there to get away from Sweden. I'm originally from the southwest and miss desert & tropical landscaping terribly. It did great until the native slugs and snails wacked the tender young pad I had in a pot on a garden wall partition.

    I wrote about the experience with pics on my blog. Recently the Göteborg Botanical Gardens have been running a "Desert Life" (Öknenliv) theme in their park and have done a great job of it. I've found some great substitutes for recreating desert or subtropical themes and using temperate ecosystem plant varieties which mimic some of the patterns found in the southwest for effect. I've finished part one and have several parts to go. Glad we have similar tastes while living in similar climes, though I think you've got the better of the two.

    Cheers, Kevin



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    1. That is really sad that the slugs and snails hit your Cactus. I love the look of a tropical/desert/mediterranean looking garden! I think you are right, we have similar tastes! It's amazing how you can have a similar effect using hardy plants. There are many subtropical plants that thrive in cool weather conditions.

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