Every month just past Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, Pam over at
Digging hosts a
Foliage Follow-Up post-a-thon designed to our increase appreciation for the non-floral wonders in our gardening spaces. I typically miss both events. For whatever reason the bloom and leaf memes both sneak up on me month after month, without my having a thing organized to share.
And you'd think it being summertime would fix that, because this is the time of year when experienced gardeners in Central Texas know it is time to hunker down and wait out the heat before attempting to plant anything. And mostly, that is just what I do. Other than scattering a little wildflower seed here and there, this is a
planning rather than planting season for me. Except...
Recently I came across an array of locally grown, totally enticing succulents on sale at an agreeable price, hosted in four inch pots. I get a little weak in the knees when it comes to succulents, so when I felt that familiar stirring deep in my soul and got the urge to buy some new plant babies to take home? I just went with it. I had empty pots ready and waiting and just the spot to park them. Done, and done.
I realize this post isn't coming after anything, and so technically is only a faux foliage follow-up, but I'm most definitely happy to share a little love for the shapes and forms and colors to be found in
these leaves.
Thanks, Pam!
15 comments:
I think your faux works just fine. I love succulents in containers. Always attractive and easy care, they are the perfect antidote for our long heat. I can't ever remember the names of them though--a bit of a mental block. I love your snail shell "mulch" in the pot; ever creative are you, Deb!
Yes! to the snail shell adornments!! They are perfect when they're empty :)
Tina: Thanks as always! I never remember the names of succulents either - these were on sale unlabeled and frankly it saved me the bother of even trying to recall what type each one is.
I'm glad you don't think the snail shell mulch is at all macabre. They are little skeletal remains...but....
Cat: Ah. "Adornments". I like that better than mulch - it sounds tonier for sure.
I had a pile of them in a tray because their stark white shells kept drawing my eye like the little treasures I see them to be. Maybe they could be seen as a warning to the other snails. "Don't hang around and let this happen to you!".
Succulents really are lust inducing. And I like all the mulches you chose, including the snail shells. Kind of beachy!
Pam: There's just something about working on such a small scale that has always appealed to me. I feel freed to try things I'd never attempt in a bed and I can play to my heart's desire knowing whatever I've done can be undone with very little effort.
Love the earth tones in your ceramic pieces. These are great compositions and how could anyone not like the geometry of succulents?
Debra: I find succulents captivating. The pots (all except the first shown, which my daughter made) are all from the thrift store. I love finds like these - reusing them makes me happy on many levels.
Gosh. Your daughter is talented. That is a lovely piece. My son is a fiend for thrift shopping. He always finds wonderful stuff when all I see is a pile of junk. It takes a good eye I think.
And I thought they were seashells! Thank goodness someone out there has some sense. Whatever they are, they look perfect as a mulch/warning. Your pots look great (plants/pots, both). I'm like Debra (sadly), I only see junk as well. I think that possible our climate is beginning to resemble Texas a little - maybe I need a bigger greenhouse to indulge in succulents like you ... (do you have to take yours indoors in the winter?)
Cathy: Most of the succulents do well here outside during the winter as long as it doesn't fall and stay below freezing. In a typical winter I take the pots in to the garage whenever a freeze is predicted but if it stays warm enough, the pots stay out to enjoy a cooler version of full sun living.
Those look great! ...and I bet it felt great to plant something, eh?
Heather: Ha! You totally called me out on that one. I chafe every year from mid June through late August to stop planning ahead, quit dreaming, about Fall and just get out there and PLANT something. Anything. I know better, of course, so I resist the temptation. Mostly....
Funny how we gardeners just can't tolerate an empty pot. And how many of us are not enticed by those rows of succulents in 4" pots. My favorite for both cost and ease of planting. Nice choices for your empty containers and kudos on the snail mulch. What a novel idea and we all have lots of them.
Rock Rose/Jenny: I'm not entirely sure what the siren call of succulents holds over so many of us but it sure enough does...
Glad you liked the snail shell mulch. Those whitened shells always catch my eye and I'm a life long "treasure collector". I'm always fishing fossils out of the gravel here too. Can't resist.
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