Aeoniums, what ya'll did with them...

When it was all said and done I received eleven entries for the Aeonium Challenge...yay for that! Although I have to say I think this was a hard one for many. Unlike the other "Challenges," where we took a maligned plant and tried to look at it through fresh, new, "hipster" glasses, Aeoniums are already cool.

I appreciate the time you all took to send in your entries, here they are in the order that I received them. First from Cherry Ong – love the contrasts...

Nancy Shiffman – I think it's an old fan? Lush...

Gayle Fraser – Gayle sent me numerous images of HUGE Aeoniums in her garden. I was jealous.

Angela Loftin – looks to be quite a large specimen?

Stacey Stewart – and she claims she can't keep an Aeonium alive? Great photo.

Eric Peterson – another sizeable specimen, and I love the detail on the container.

Poor Jim – The colors shocked me at first, but the longer I looked at the photo I started to really love them.

Tim Vojt – okay I have to admit the seafoam Artemisia distracted me...and look at that cute little Agave...

Molly Malecki – dark and dramatic...

Peter Herpst – he calls this one 'Lust'...

Kris Peterson – Kris put together a few entries and used crowd sourcing to decide which to send in. Then went with her own choice (which I love)...

So those are our entries...and the winner is!..
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But wait, there were a couple of "just for fun" entries. This one from Hoover/Piece of Eden. She took this shot when visiting the Huntington Gardens. Isn't it fabulous? All those Aeoniums planted en masse, burning color flowing across the ground...***swoon***...

And this fabulous headpiece was created by Susan Soto, our winner for the last two challenges (OC&K and Poinsettia). Susan sent in a post-deadline photo, knowing she was too late to enter but still wanting to have fun. Can you even imagine how special you'd feel with that on your head?

Okay now for real: our esteemed judging panel chose 'Lust' as The Aeonium Challenge winner!!!

Peter sent a description with his image, which I feel needs to be shared: "The eyes of the skull are Aeonium 'Zwartkop' and the potted plant, pruned by Morticia Addams, is Aeonium 'Kiwi.' That's the thing about plant nerds, sometimes they see things in a plant that may or may not be there. Maybe it's about humankind's lust to own or control natural beauty and in the possessing, they rob the original object of it's beauty and end up looking a bit silly themselves. Maybe one thinks the other has a great body but is a bit lacking in the brain department. On the other hand, maybe the guy's a boob man and after a few drinks, he's seeing more there than there is."

So fun and creative...big congrats to Peter – I'll be in touch about your fabulous winnings generously donated by Cistus Nursery!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

In a Vase on Monday on the Fourth of July

Here we are...it's July 4th! A day that to me used to mean hanging out with friends and family under the pretense of celebrating our great nation. However as someone with a dog (deaf as she may be) it's now about managing her stress (she can still feel the big explosions) and as a Portland homeowner it's about praying this won't be the year our neighborhood goes up in flames. Big fireworks are illegal here (just like in Seattle and Spokane – the other two cities I've lived in) but that doesn't mean squat. I've never lived anywhere that explodes on the 4th quite like Portland. Yeehaw! Big fun...

So today is also the end of the Aeonium Challenge, fun as it's been. Ya'll have until midnight to get in your entries...

I thought it would be fitting to end the challenge with a green Aeonium feature. Since all I've done previously is feature the dark ones.

Plus since it's the 4th, beer seemed rather fitting!

Andrew spotted this wonderful marketing effort and brought it home for us to enjoy.

Or maybe that should have been "enjoy"...

Beautiful as it was, it really wasn't very good.

Still that doesn't stop me from celebrating.

Joining Aeonium canariense in the beer can are cuttings from Tradescantia pallida 'Purple Heart' and Grevillea australis.

As always our Monday garden cutting/vase creations are hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Thank you to all that have put together an Aeonium Challenge entry and sent an image. Our judges will be meeting next week and if all goes as planned I will be announcing the winner (and sharing all the entries) on July 18th. Stay tuned!
All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday Vignette, 3 to Inspire

Three vignettes (none of them my work) to inspire you to take up The Aeonium Challenge. This first one is the work of Riz Reyes, part of his design for the City Living display at the 2015 Northwest Flower and Garden Show.

I discovered this planter during a visit to Secret Garden Growers in Canby, OR – it's a great nursery to visit!

And finally Aeoniums strutting their stuff in the garden of Bob Hyland (of Contained Exuberance). You've got until Monday to get in your entry! (details)

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

The Aeonium Challenge, contained

That empty container on the right, below, used to have an Agave in it. I decided the textures were too similar and this corner need something different.

Enter the Aeoniums...

The silver business is Leucophyta brownii. I read Zone 9 on the tag, some call it 8. We'll see.

The black "grass" is Uncinia strictissima.

I'm normally not a fan of mixed containers and would have rather put his little combo together in the ground somewhere. Sadly I didn't have a suitable space for something temporary.

Sitting on the ground snapping images I glanced to my left and there was my previous Aeonium challenge exemplar, the bulletin board. I still love it!

It's summer and the Aeonium livin is easy!

I think the combo works.


In fact I liked it so much I repeated part of it with another Aeonium, the one that had been sunk in a vase. No Uncinia strictissima here though.

Remember you have until July 4th to email me (spiky plants at gmail dot com) your Aeonium Challenge entry! (details here).

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wednesday Vignette – Aeonium Challenge material?

Visiting a friend I saw these Aeoniums chillin on the wire...

I wonder if she's planning to enter the Aeonium Challenge? Are you?

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

My new garden bulletin board – part of the Aeonium Challenge

I love a garden project, especially when it gives me a new place to put plants! Let's look at the "parts" that make up this whole...

Part 1: I first fell for these round disc planters when I visited Sky Nursery north of Seattle – but they were expensive so I didn't make the purchase.

Then last fall Cornell Farms had a sale! I ended up with two of the smaller ones, or maybe they're actually the next size up – I've lost track.

Part 2: Do you remember this piece of expanded metal I picked up at Earthwise Salvage? I had no idea what I'd be doing with it when I made the purchase, but once I had the disc planters in my possession it became clear. After all I knew I wanted them to hang on the side of the house, but I also knew there was no way on earth Andrew would be up for putting holes in the siding. Somehow this was going to be my solution.

Part 3: Then when the Aeonium Challenge started kicking around in my head I finally knew what would be going in the planters. I bought 2 different kinds of Aeonium at Cistus. These are A. 'Blackbeard' – the other (shown below) is A. 'Embarcadero Red' (a Cistus introduction). A couple of Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls' will complete the picture.

Part 4: It all comes together! Planted up and awaiting final placement.

Oh ya, and that little issue of putting holes in the siding? Well there was a compromise. It turns out keeping the garage water-tight isn't as quite as important as the house – still behind each washer is a nice dollop of silicone.

I wanted a mounting method that would allow me to easily remove the metal panel, Andrew came up with this solution.

I think it rather handsome.

Ta-da!

I also must credit him with designating this new addition the garden "bulletin board." The disc planters are just wired in place, so easily removed if I want to try something different (Tillandsia perhaps?)...

I love catching glimpses of it from around the garden.

Although the shadow play makes getting a decent photo difficult. The colors look so flat here.

When really they're not.

The Aeoniums get just about an hour of direct morning sunlight. Hopefully that's enough to keep them happy but still looking good in the heat of the summer.

Two weeks after initial planting the Dichondra is starting to "fall"...

I do hope you're scheming on what to do to answer the Aeonium Challenge. To enter just send me an image of your Aeonium original by July 4th (spiky plants at gmail dot com). You could win an Aeonium collection from Cistus Nursery as well as have a lot of fun getting creative!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.