In other news

Finishing the hardy succulent bed freed up some terra cotta pots, so I was able to do a couple of long-awaited divisions. Echeveria 'Cubic Frost' was three rosettes when I acquired it from Ramsey's March 7, and lately an offset has been trying to grow up through the middle, making the pot very crowded. I kept the biggest part in the 6-inch squat pot and put the other two rosettes (and a few loose leaves) in 4-inch pots.

Graptoveria 'Debbie' made an incredible recovery from what it looked like at unboxing from Succulents Depot April 30 and was starting to overwhelm its 6-inch squat pot. The biggest part went into a regular 6-inch, and three smaller pieces went back in the original pot.

I always am on the lookout for cheap coffee cups that I can drill holes in. These three plants had been in 4-inch plastic pots. I think the two on the left are cuttings from some combination of Graptopetalum paraguayense 'Ghost Plant,' Pachyphytum 'Apricot Beauty' and Graptoveria 'Titubans Variegata,' which resemble each other. The one on the right is a leaf propagation and I'm not sure what it is. The saucers are 3D printed so I can customize the colors and size to match the cup.

This one didn't get repotted, but I just noticed that it has grown quite a bit recently. It is Echeveria pulvinata 'Frosty' and last I noticed it didn't have those stalks coming out of it. It was obtained from Mountain Crest Gardens March 31.

There is some Sempervivum news. 'Powdered Pastry' continues to dry up in the middle. I removed all of the dried leaves but retained the flower stalks because there are still some flowers on the tips. Clearing away the dead leaves revealed the stolons that attached the offsets to the main plant. Since the main plant is doomed and the offsets look very healthy, I cut all of the stolons.

I potted up one of the offsets and it is already filling a 4-inch terra cotta.

Sempervivum macro

I took macro images of the new succulent bed today, and also took images of the Sempervivums in the three other containers in the greenhouse. Here is the layout. One bothersome thing about the greenhouse is it is hard to get properly-exposed images on a sunny day. A cloudy day without the hard shadows would be better, but unfortunately the weather is going to be beautiful for the next few days.

Window

Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'

Chick Charms 'Berry Blues'

Calcareum

'Budai Mountains'

Aloe Vera

Chick Charms 'Berry Blues'

Sedum SunSparkler 'Blue Pearl'

Sedum SunSparkler 'Wildfire'

Chick Charms 'Lotus Blossom'

Unknown #6

Chick Charms 'Gold Rush'

Unknown #1

Unknown #7

Sedum SunSparkler 'Lime Twister'

Aloe Vera

Chick Charms 'Strawberry Kiwi' heuffelii

Chick Charms 'Powdered Pastry'

Unknown #5 heuffelii

Chick Charms 'Cosmic Candy'

Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'

Containers

Ceramic: 'Gold Nugget'

Grow Bag: 'Berry Blues' and 'Appletini'

Ceramic: Unknown #3

Here's each plant, 24 in all including four in three large containers. Starting with the row nearest the window, at left, one of the two Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic' buried in a plastic pot. This is a tender semi-succulent and will be pulled out when the temperature is turned down.

One of two 'Berry Blues' offsets.

Calcareum is growing four new offsets to join the large offsets around the perimeter.

'Budai Mountains' is a roller, but these offsets haven't rolled away yet. I have a small pot with five little rollers that are slowly developing.

The first of two Aloe Vera, which add height to the bed. Aloes also are not hardy and will be pulled out when the temperature drops.

The other 'Berry Blues' offset. These seem really easy to grow, but it looks like I should tweezer the dirt out of there.

I may have gone too far in keeping the Sedum SunSparkler 'Blue Pearl' dry. Hopefully it bounces back because I do not have a backup pot.

Next row, Sedum SunSparkler 'Wildfire' also looks dry, but I have a large pot of this that is more lively.

Some of the 'Lotus Blossom' offsets have almost caught up to the mother plant in size.

Unknown #6 has kept its deep burgundy color.

'Gold Rush' already appreciates being released from its pot and having room to spread out.

The webbed Unknown #1, which I call the Little Survivor because it was a dried-up little ball when I received it.

Another webbed Semp, Unknown #7.

Front row, unlike the other Sedums, Sedum SunSparkler 'Lime Twister' looks healthy enough. I also have a large backup pot.

Another Aloe Vera in a buried pot.

'Strawberry Kiwi' heuffelii, four rosettes.

'Powdered Pastry,' the flower stalks and the mother plant are drying up, leaving the offsets to take over.

Unknown #5 heuffelii, the mother plant already dried up and I chopped off the flower stalk, leaving two rosettess

I was so intent on making sure the flower stalk of 'Cosmic Candy' was in focus that I missed part of the main plant. I'll replace this image tomorrow.

Another Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic' in a buried pot.

And now for the three containers. I planted 'Gold Nugget' in a large ceramic formerly occupied by 'Cosmic Candy.' As with 'Gold Rush,' I think I can already tell that 'Gold Nugget' is spreading out after being released from a 6-inch pot.

The mother 'Berry Blues' looks very healthy in the big grow bag, and its remaining offsets look ready to be assigned elsewhere.

'Appletini' also is in the big grow bag and is ready to contribute offsets to other projects. I gave one to my sister and planted one outside in our rock berm.

And finally, I gave Unknown #3 the large ceramic formerly occupied by the ill-fated Aeonium 'Floresens.' All three of the large containers are under Sansi grow lights.

Not pictured among the Sempervivums, the recent acquisition Arachnoideum 'Cebanese' which I have decided to overwinter in the heated garage.

I already knew that this bed of mostly Sempervivums would not have much height, which is why I added the four plants in pots and the Sedums. I believe next spring and summer will be something to behold, but right my primary concern is getting everything through the winter. I don't have to do much else to get this bed ready. My current plan is to maintain the temperature above 10 F, which I would call an abundance of caution for the first year.

Hardy

Last winter, I had 10 Sempervivums in terra cotta pots in the unheated greenhouse. Half of them did not survive. This year I decided to give the Semps a better chance by taking them out of the pots and putting them in one of the greenhouse beds. With other time commitments, it took nearly a week to complete the transformation, but today I finished it. I will keep the temperature above freezing for at least the next month so I hope that is enough time for the plants to get somewhat established.

As a quick summary, I removed half of the garden soil from the southwest bed (about 10 cubic feet) and replaced it with eight cubic feet of pumice and two cubic feet of coco coir. I topped it off with 1.5 cubic feet of pea gravel. Then I planted 13 Sempervivums, three Sedums, two Aloe Vera, and two Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic.' The Aloe and Velveteen are not hardy, so they are in plastic pots that can be removed easily. I put them in there to give some height because Sempervivums generally aren't very tall unless they are flowering. A couple of the Sedums also have some height.

This is what it looks like after I placed the 20 plants. I'll take some macro images to show this better. Against my better judgment perhaps, I hit the bed with the hose to wash the dirt off the plants and gravel. I really need to get this bed to dry out before I turn the temperature down. Research indicates that Sempervivums have the best chance to survive the cold if they are dry, dry, dry.

It was nice outside so I moved ALL of the pots out to give them some air. I wish I could leave everything outside for a few days, but that is not possible for several reasons, namely deer and cold weather.

So I did move everything back inside, after doing some cleaning. The flowers will be overwintered in some manner, but most of the plants in the second image are not guaranteed a spot in the warm garage. Those Coleus (right corner) had better live up to their reputation as low-light plants because that is their only chance for survival.

Here are a few images of the succulent bed work in process. First I removed half of the soil, and stashed it in large containers at the house. Then I loaded nine buckets with soil from the bed, which left about four inches of soil in the 15-inch deep bed. The next step was to add layers of pumice, coir and soil. Here is the first batch of additives.

I kept adding layers of pumice, coir and soil, mixing as I went. This is the bed topped with an unmixed layer of pumice. This was a couple inches short of where I wanted to be so I had to stop at this point for a couple days before I had the chance to get some more pumice and coir in Billings.

Once I mixed in the remaining materials and topped the bed off with the pea gravel, I started planting. I started slow with Sempervivum 'Powdered Pastry' at center, and the two Aloe Vera in buried pots.

It took me three days to finish planting because I only had about an hour a day for greenhouse chores Thursday-Saturday. Today I made the final push. There is plenty of space between the plants now, but if they take off and start crowding each other it will be easy enough to put some of them back in pots.

Rhipsalis

We flew out of Denver for our trip to Switzerland, and when we are in Denver (actually Parker) we usually go to Trader Joe's because we don't have one in Montana. Since it is Halloween season, they dressed up this Rhipsalis Cactus with a Day of the Dead cache pot.

Rhipsalis is a jungle cactus, similar to a Thanksgiving Cactus. It can handle more water than a desert cactus. Since the skull is a cache pot, I can easily repot the Rhipsalis in a more appropriate pot for the long term and give the skull something else for hair, like a Haworthia retusa f. geraldii 'Star Cactus,' which is more robust than when this picture was taken. (Update: I moved the Rhipsalis to a small ceramic pot and put a Haworthia offset in the skull.)

In other news, the southwest planting bed at the greenhouse has been cleared and at some point in the next few days I will get going on augmenting the soil with a massive dose of pumice and coco coir. The Sempervivums will get a month of low temperatures of 50 to get established before I turn the heat down to 10 at the end of November.

Semps

Here's the latest look at the 'Powdered Pastry' Semp, with the middle very purple and starting to wither. In the next week I will be transitioning the southwest planting bed in the greenhouse to a succulent soil mix and this is one of the Semps that I will try to get established there in the next few months before turning down the heat for the winter.

We were gone for about two weeks on a trip to Switzerland via Denver. One great thing about succulents is I don't have to set up irrigation for that period of time like I do with my coleus and other water-thirsty plants.

In Denver, I saw what my sister has done with hardy succulents in her yard. She has a number of plantings of Sempervivums and Sedums that have turned into clumps over the past couple of years. I have one little Semp in the rock garden at the house, and seeing what she has may give me impetus to plant a bunch more Semps (and Sedums) in various parts of the yard. But I'm also doing the greenhouse bed. When I got the greenhouse last year I found myself falling into the trap of trying to do everything. As I'm going along I'm becoming more focused. Although I will have some tomatoes and peppers in bags next year, I've decided it isn't worth using greenhouse space to grow relatively-cheap food items. This is what the interior of the greenhouse is for:

• Sempervivums and other hardy succulents, year-round.
• Tender succulents, April-October.
• Hardy herbs such as oregano and thyme over winter, plus soft herbs in summer.
• Strawberries, year-round (dormant/mulched during the winter).
• Petunias, April-October. Overwintered in garage.
• Coleus, May-October. Overwintered in garage.
• Sunflowers and other annual flowers, April-October.
• Allium, spring.

My sister gave me some sort of Paddle Plant, and cuttings of Blue Chalksticks and a spiky aloe. I also got something at Trader Joe's which I believe is a Rhipsalis Cactus. See next post.

Moving up

I got a stoneware plant pot at the local farmer's market last weekend and decided what to put in it today. It is slightly wider but a lot deeper than the 6-inch squat pot in which Echeveria 'Lilac Mist' previously resided. I don't know if the pot's oval shape is intentional, but it is not real noticeable unless are looking down from above. 'Lilac Mist' does not look like most Echeverias, perhaps because it is actually a Sedeveria, i.e. a hybrid with Sedum. I received it from Ramsey's March 7 and they called it an Echeveria, so that's how I describe it in my succulent list.

When I received it, there were four stems. Three went into the squat pot and the fourth (pictured below) was planted in the Montage Bowl. It is more upright and compact than the other three, and the tips are red, so I went back and checked to make sure that is what it is. It is.

Here are the three rosettes just after they were potted March 11. There is definitely some growth since then.

Moving the 'Lilac Mist' freed up the 6-incher for Echeveria 'Lime n Chile,' which freed up a 4-inch ceramic for my most successful leaf propagation to date. To keep the chain going, I moved a colorful little plant from the propagation tray of two-inch pots to a four-inch plastic pot. I haven't try to keep IDs on leaf propagations, but it may be a Pachyphytum 'Apricot Beauty.'

I would like to have more terra cotta pots available now to pot up some succulents that have outgrown their 4-inchers, but I have resisted buying more because in a month I hope to have the potted Sempervivums transitioning into a greenhouse planting bed. That plan would free up two 8-inch squat pots, two 6-inch squat pots, five regular 6-inch pots, and one 4-inch pot.

In other news, both of my Echeveria 'Blue Rose' plants which did fine all summer have decided to turn yellow and die. I got them from Succulents Depot April 30, so there was no sign of this for four months. The one in the big blue ceramic started losing its leaves first, then the one in the 6-inch terra cotta did the same. The interweb gives possible causes as not enough light or overwatering. They were on the bench in the greenhouse all summer so got plenty of light, and I am careful about overwatering succulents. No other plants are showing these signs, although in recent months I did lose the 'Jellybean' Sedum which was in a 3D plastic pot, which did tend to hold onto moisture. At this stage of my succulents education, I am not going to replace fragile varieties that fall apart ('Rainbow,' ugh!). I have that tray of 40 propagations that want to move into those pots. And that's not to mention the dozens of Sempervivum offsets that could live on their own. I just put an 'Appletini' offset in a combo bowl to replace a little Crassula cv. 'Buddha's Temple' that I gave my sister.

The Chosen

At one time this season I had about 24 copies of Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic,' which is what I call the semi-succulent commonly (and incorrectly) known as Cuban Oregano. I sold some and gave some away, but still have 13 live plants, 11 in pots and two in greenhouse window boxes. The latter two aren't going to get dug up, so they are doomed, but I need to figure out which of the remaining 11 get to come in from the cold. 'Velveteen' is not the least bit hardy and will turn to mush when the thermometer hits 32 degrees.

I narrowed it down to three. On the left is the plant that overwintered in our bedroom last year. Its stems became became etoliated (stretched out) in the dark of winter, which actually was good for providing most of the cuttings for this year's crop. It was pruned June 21 and has bushed out again. In the middle is a plant that overwintered under grow lights and is the bushiest one I have. On the right is the most successful cutting of the year.

I did some pruning and this was the result. From left, the pruning was light, heavy and none. This is how they will go into the heated garage. Sometime next spring I will take cuttings and make some new ones. This is a very easy plant to propagate from cuttings as I was 18-for-18 this year.

When I have a chance, I water succulents behind the garage on a mesh table, for drainage. I assembled all seven Aloe Vera pots today for a good rinsing. If I was motivated, I would separate out some of the pups and make some better-looking pots. Or I could just let them go to do whatever until spring and repot them then. I choose Option B.