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.

Rearranging the deck chairs

I've been moving a lot of plants between the house and the greenhouse, and detailed a lot of it at my other blog Montana Greenhouse. This is one of the images, the Sempervivums on the shelves above the greenhouse bench. Click on the link for more images.

I didn't take a closeup image, but the 'Gold Nugget' in the ribbed planter at center already is losing its burgundy color and is shifting back to green. It developed that color sitting outside on our back patio and getting direct sunlight for more than 10 hours a day. One thing I have learned from having a greenhouse is the light inside is not as intense as the light outside. The glass and panels pass perhaps 60 to 90 percent of the light, and the days are getting shorter. This contributes to the color change, but the plant also goes through seasonal changes. Eventually 'Gold Nugget' should live up to its name and shift to a gold color sometime this winter.

Pine Cone

Here is the blooming Sempervivum 'Cosmic Candy' and a pine cone. The Sempervivum is on the left.

It is time to proclaim a result in the pruning of the Plectranthus 'Velveteen Aromatic.' In the past I have started new cuttings each spring after the plant got leggy over the winter, and indeed I started 18 cuttings this spring. But I also kept the plant that overwintered in our bedroom and gave it a good prune June 21.

Here it is today.

The bare spots have mostly filled in, but it is not as bushy as plants that have been packing on foliage since early spring. Still, I would rate the pruning a success. If anything, I would cut it back even more.

And finally, "Death of a Sempervivum, part II" has been updated with some new images of 'Powdered Pastry.' There have been no dramatic changes lately. The stem is deep red in contrast to the green of the offsets.

Bounceback

I haven't bought any succulents for almost three months, but with the recent Aeonium 'Floresens' debacle I felt the need to shop. The succulents at the big box stores don't look great at this time of year, but I rescued this dried-out little webbed Sempervivum from Home Depot yesterday. It is an arachnoideum 'Cebanese.' This phone image doesn't show it but there are three offsets. The plant and offsets were smooshed into a 2.5-inch pot. They should have room to spread out in this 6-inch terra cotta.

I had the 'Cebanese' on my Mountain Crest Gardens wishlist for the longest time, but either it was out of stock or I didn't pull the trigger when it was available. The images on their web site show masses of offsets, so I hope this little rescue measures up.

I'm setting a target date of October 9 for everything to be done producing in the southwest bed at the greenhouse. I've been chopping new blossoms off the big tomato plant so it will ripen the fruit it already has and not set any more. There is a small pepper plant that is producing mild Jalapenos (Tams), and if it is still viable in a month I will pot it up. I have already potted up the oregano and thyme. I put those in the southwest bed a month ago when I thought the herbs were going there next year, but have since decided to flip southwest and southeast. Most of the onions have been harvested but two have decided to send up new sprouts. They have a month, then they are gone. That is when I will dig up that bed and replace half of the soil with pumice and coco coir.

I have selected 10 Sempervivums to overwinter in the southwest bed, Unknowns #1, #3*, #6* and #7*; 'Gold Nugget,' 'Gold Rush,' 'Lotus Blossom,' whatever remains of 'Powdered Pastry,' the calcareum, and globiferum 'Budai Mountains'*. Those marked with (*) survived in the unheated greenhouse last winter in small clay pots, so should be able to handle a large bed. I didn't pick winter survivor #5 because it is a heuffelii and has a small footprint. The bed is about 12 square feet and I want the ones I picked to spread out and cover the bed. 'Cosmic Candy' is in a large ceramic pot, while 'Appletini' and 'Berry Blues' are in a large grow bag along with a Delosperma and some Sedum. The current plan is to leave them in there for the winter. That leaves two heuffelii (#5 and 'Strawberry Kiwi') and the new 'Cebanese' without an assigned spot in the greenhouse for the winter. I'll probably let them hang in the heated garage.

The southeast bed, which currently is under a vegetative mass of alyssum, sunflowers, coleus and bachelor buttons, next year will be used for hardy succulents, hard herbs, and seasonal herbs -- Demosperma, sedums, oreganos, thymes, rosemary, basil, maybe some onions and cilantro. I'll stick my allium bulbs in there over the winter and get a few weeks of flowers in the spring as everything else is getting established. I am not going to do a drastic soil transformation like I will in the other bed, but maybe I'll mix in some pumice and coir to loosen things up.

I've been trying to find something that will grow and survive the deer in the outside window boxes. Botanical Interests had free shipping on seeds, so I ordered Kirigami Ornamental Oregano and Creeping Thyme for about $11. The oregano has an unusual look to it and is not edible. The thyme is edible (sort of), but the attraction is the dense mats of foliage topped with lavender blooms. This year I tried zinnias, nasturtiums, alyssum and 'Velveteen Aromatic' in the boxes, all of which are advertised as "deer resistant." The deer ate the first three, and the 'Velveteen' survived but didn't get real bushy in the relatively small boxes. I don't believe hardy succulents would survive in the outside boxes due to the small size, and of course 'Velveteen' is not the least bit hardy. First frost and it is a pile of mush.

Vermin

The deer ate my Aeonium 'Floresens.' They didn't just nip the top off; they ate all but one leaf. I put the root ball/stem with the single leaf into a small pot and hope that in three years it will resemble the glory it showed until yesterday. A fourth offset was forming and I was going to do a photo shoot sometime in the next few days. I hate the deer so much. This is the last good image I have from August 19 with its third offset. I'm not going to post an image of the carnage.

Sept. 15: He's dead, Jim. The lone leaf and stalk have shriveled up, and there's nothing left to do but reclaim the pot and move on.