When I first got Pachyphytum 'Little Jewel' from Mountain Crest Gardens Feb. 7, it didn't show the degree of faceting that was in the photos on their site. As it has become more established and the weather has become more favorable, the faceting keeps developing. I posted an update just a few weeks ago, but this is as good as it has been.
This is what 'Little Jewel' looked like back on Feb. 10. Some facets, but not very pronounced:
'Little Jewel' had a rough journey from California. There were about 10 loose leaves that I scooped up and deposited in the propagation bowl. They developed roots fairly quickly, but the little leaves took a lot longer. It's difficult to be certain of plant ID at this stage, but it appears there are six 'Little Jewels' with little leaves. I'm going by the remnant of the narrow, pointed big leaf for the ID on this one; the small leaves don't look like that at all.
This one is not a 'Little Jewel,' but it is one the largest plants in the big bowl. It is 0.7 inches high.
Here's a different type of jewel. The Pachyphytum was faceted, this one is so, so smooth. It is Graptopetalum paraguayense 'Ghost Plant,' also received from Mountain Crest Feb. 7. I have another purchase I believe is a 'Ghost Plant,' from Gainan's in Billings April 8, but that one didn't come with an ID so I'm not 100% sure. I gave them different ID tags as a result, this one being #70 and the other one marked as #71 with an ID of "probable." The one pictured here may be slightly more green that the other.
'Ghost Plant' has been growing in that little cup without much disturbance for four months. When I was watering yesterday I was struck by the (mostly) flawless complexion and just had to snap a picture.
This is what 'Ghost Plant' looked like back on February 10. I snap these pictures to prove to myself that they actually are growing. Most of them.
There's also the Pachyphytum 'Apricot Beauty' that looks more similar to the 'Ghost Plant' that it does the other Pachyphytum mentioned above. One thing the two Pachyphytums have in common is they lost a lot of leaves in transit. They are both healthy now and producing multiple plants from leaves and beheadings.
This is how the succulents fit into the greenhouse. About 80 of them are on the bench and shelves to the left, with two sedums in hanging baskets. The closest grow bag has three Sempervivums, a Delosperma and a little sedum cutting. Barely visible are the two big pots I turned over to Echeveria 'Lola' and Aeonium 'Floresens.' The bed I eventually want to convert to succulents it the closest one on the right, now full of onions. This view is facing east, so the mid-day sunlight comes from the right. Because we have an incredibly short growing season, most of the baskets shown here won't go outside for another week. (Some sources say we haven't passed our last frost date yet. The weather forecast says we are safe, but it will get down to 43 overnight on Saturday.)
With the petunia baskets out of the picture, the most visible plants in mid-summer should be 'Teddy Bear' sunflowers and other flowers such as zinnias on both sides. Back on the bench, the tender succulents should keep getting bigger and more colorful as they soak in the sunlight. In October they have to go back under growlights in the garage, and by then I hope to have a permanent home for the hardy succulents after the onions are harvested.
