While the greenhouse is a great thing to have to get things started in the spring and extend the growing season well into the autumn, with our usual cool weather the soil inside does not dry out very quickly. This despite getting up as high as 96 degrees and as low as 23% humidity, both on June 16 when it was 85 outside. Most days, it barely gets above 70 and I do not have to water most of the plants in the greenhouse. It may be different in August.
Yesterday I finally made the connection between yellow leaves on the Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'™ and constant sunlight, but I didn't want to move them all back inside. Today I moved most of them and some other succulents to the sides of the greenhouse, where will they avoid the midday sun and also get some dappled light in the morning and evening due to surrounding trees. Here is the west side where I put the six 'Velveteens' I potted up yesterday along with two older ones, three Aloe Vera, and a Greek Oregano cutting. I also moved the two Sedum SunSparkler 'Lime Twister' and 'Wildfire' hanging baskets here from inside.
On the east side, which gets less foot traffic, I put some of the plants that are less, uh, "photogenic." Here are the two Aloe that I call 'Tiger Tooth' even though I don't know if that is accurate, six Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic'™ that haven't been potted up yet, a small Aloe Vera, a yellow Greek Oregano cutting, a damaged 'Velveteen,' and an an older Aloe Vera that needs dividing.
At the house on our west-facing patio, I pulled the 'Velveteens' and Aloe Veras (two each) and the big Greek Oregano plant back under the covered porch. On the table above them, there are nine tender succulents, two Sempervivums, and four non-succulents. The succulents have been on this table for several weeks, getting indirect light most of the day until late afternoon when the sun finally hits them.
I want to get as many plants out of the greenhouse and garage into the great outdoors as I can, including succulents. I see these people on Australian YouTube videos where their succulents live outside all the time and even get rained on. I don't want to get mine rained on, especially those with farina, but I want to take advantage of the summer for the short time it lasts. Then the interesting question will be will it all fit back inside the garage when autumn roll around.
My propagation bowls are going strong, so in four months I may have 150 succulents in various-sized containers. Those get first priority in the garage and inside the house. There currently are 22 'Velveteens,' and I know not all of them will be invited into the garage. Then there are more than a dozen pots of herbs, the ten coleus, and the petunia and geranium cuttings that I want to overwinter.
It will take some of the pressure off it I can leave about 25 cold-hardy succulents in the greenhouse over the winter. I am tempted to heat the greenhouse to +10 all winter, which in theory would make it Zone 8 instead of Zone 5 (-20). That would make it more survivable for the hardy succulents experiencing their first winter and some perennials that are only good to Zone 7. In theory the strawberry plants in the planting beds are hardy enough to make it without help, but I also have strawberries in baskets and grow bags that would benefit from a little heat. Most nights last winter it did not get down to +10 so the heat wouldn't have to come on, but it was a mild winter.
Forget that for now, for the next three months...uh, two and a half months...I'm taking advantage of our all-too-brief summer.