Friday, September 29, 2017

End of Month Favorites, my how you've gown...

For this September's End of Month Favorites I thought it would be fun to check out how the trio of succulent dish planters have filled in over the summer, since their days in the sun are sadly numbered. I ventured out to take photos one morning after an overnight rain, just as the sun was peeking out. The light was quite magical in person, but might not have been the best for photography. Oh well, it is what it is....(aka 'Que Sera, Sera')...

Then (posted on June 5)

And now...

This one is kind of crazy, how much it's grown.  Aeonium 'Kiwi', several cuttings of Echeveria setosa 'Arrow Shaped' and Mangave 'Bad Hair Day'...now...

And then...

Agave angustifolia 'Marginata' has relaxed and opened up, Opuntia erinacea 'Browse Cherry' has grown entirely new pads.

Another photo from last June, that's Mangave 'Catch a Wave', on the far left.

And another "now" view...

Taken together — all three have almost gotten so overgrown it's hard to see the dishes and to visually separate them from the surrounding foliage.

Back in June it was much easier...

The front dish now...

Sadly the Raoulia australis (silver tiny-leaved ground cover) wasn't happy in the dish planters, just not moist enough.

But the Aeoniums got along fine.

I really should go back and track which Mangave this is, the Agave on the left is an A. salmiana ferox.

Said Agave...

The third (and final) dish, now...

And then; Raoulia australis, Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkopf', Mangave 'Man of Steel' and Agave salmiana ferox.

Mangave 'Man of Steel' has definitely lived up to its front billing.

And really Agave salmiana ferox has done remarkably well considering its limited root run.

From above...

Again, where do the dish planters end and surrounding plants begin? Hard to tell.

Finally, a happy surprise on ground level. I thought the Acanthus sennii was a goner after last winter, but it's made a comeback!

And seems to be enjoying leaning on the Agave for support.

The long, hot, summer was a good one, in my garden. So, end of September, what's looking good in your garden?

Weather Diary, Sept 28: Hi 86 Low 54/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

23 comments:

  1. The growth is pretty amazing. Depending on the plant and location, I've decided growth is the goodnews/bad news concept of gardening.

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  2. Succulents may not enjoy your winter weather but they sure like the summer conditions! I don't think I've ever seen succulents in my garden grow so fast and in fact Aeoniums in particular usually go dormant here in summer. I tried the Raoulia too. Advertised here as drought tolerant, my 3 plants died off entirely within weeks. The spot I chose for them was admittedly among the driest in my garden but they went so fast I didn't even have an opportunity to relocate them.

    My favorites this month are a hodge-podge collection: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2017/09/september-favorites.html

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    1. Evidently that crazy Raoulia requires perfect drainage, but can’t dry out. Ha, good luck with that! A little but that I put in the ground looks better than that in the dishes. Of course once the winter rains start...

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  3. I love all those mangaves. My prediction: 2018 will be the year of the mangave.

    As for my garden, as temperatures are starting to cool, plants that had gone semi-dormant in the summer are picking up steam again. Can wait for a new flush of growth before winter comes.

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  4. I got to enjoy a double dose of your garden today, with Gerhard posting about his visit! I love the dishes and how you constructed them was McGyver level ingenious!The garden is so lush! Can you bring just the dish part inside for the winter?

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    1. Ya, the dish part will be lifted and brought indoors. Things will vary in their ability to cope with months inside, so come spring I’m sure I’ll be redoing them. In the mean time I have empty dishes that I’m planning on planing up and positioning for the cool and rainy season.

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  5. Nice growth on all of your succulent dish planters! Since my garden hasn't had a lot of attention since school started, not much is looking good in it right now. I take that back, the weeds are LOVING the rain and they look spectacular!

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    Replies
    1. Go weeds! But I don’t believe that part about your garden not looking good.

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  6. Pretty amazing growth in just one season. I'm looking at a flurry of editing in the near future but it has taken a few years to get there.
    http://bannersbyricki.com/archives/5900

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  7. If I could just find a Mangave for sale anywhere that didn't require a trans-continental flight I'd be thrilled. Your dishes sure performed like champs ! The deconstruction will be depressing I bet.

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    1. Oh Kathy I am not looking forward to tearing things apart this week (the containers in general coming indoors I mean)... why can’t summer last for ever!? Oh and if Gerhard is right then you,should have no trouble finding Mangaves in 2018!

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  8. BotanicalnutSeptember 29, 2017

    Hey Loree, Neil up in Victoria here. Garden is looking super as usual!
    However, that's the creepiest version of Que Sera Sera (ya I clicked on it)
    that I've ever heard! :-0

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  9. Looks great. Aeonium are very cool.

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    1. Thanks, I would be a very happy gardener if I could grow them year 'round in the ground...

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  10. Impressive! What's the plan for over wintering these hard working beauties?

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    1. I'll bring them in the house and hope for the best. Those that survive will get to vacation outdoors again next year!

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  11. Loree, did you see the two agaves you gave me at the plant swap last Spring? They are doing well but I meant to ask you about them. Here is my post - https://phillipoliver.blogspot.com/2017/10/end-of-month-favorites-september.html

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    1. I didn't! Bummer. Okay going to check out your post...

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  12. I was wondering too about what will happen now. I'll keep my fingers crossed that your plants are just as happy indoors as they were this past summer.

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