Sedum 'Lynda Windsor' Flowering

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I'm going to have to see this plant next summer to see how it behaves for me. So far it's a little floppy but naturally it's also in its first year so who knows what it'll do next year. If it's floppy next year it's getting replaced by 'Chocolate Drop.'



Sedum 'Lynda Windsor'

Even floppy it does give some nice leaf colour year round and the flowers are an interesting colour too. More red than a lot of my other not-quite reds without being so different it doesn't fit in.

New Plants!

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Had a fantastic day today - Visited a friend's nursery* and wow. It may be a small (tiny) nursery compared to where I work be there was just so much that was so exciting and generally just all around different from what I'm used to seeing day to day that I may have gotten carried away.

* When I started out and only really knew that there were annuals and perennials and one of them came back and the other didn't he was my... not exactly supervisor but basically. I'd say I can blame my love of plants on him so it's only fitting I can count on him to carry plants that can still excite me even though I'm surrounded by thousands of interesting plants on a daily basis.

My goal was to find, and purchase, maybe 3 blanket flowers of some sort, one of the compact varieties like 'Arizona Sun.'

Here was the first thing I found that I needed to have:







Arum cornutum

I had to have this. Now I have one. I never would have expected to just stumble on it like I did. So happy. He also had a very exotic looking Arisaema I'd have gotten (if the Arum hadn't been there). Maybe next year.

The next plant I needed with no questions asked was this stunning Euphorbia 'First Blush' that I will underplant with Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco.'


Euphorbia 'First Blush'


Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'

I also ended up with a Hosta 'Frosted Mouse Ears,' Tiarella 'Happy Trails,' and two Echeveria (It's not my fault, they were on sale!).


Hosta 'Frosted Mouse Ears'


Tiarella 'Happy Trails' - I'm counting on this for a terrible dry shady corner where nothing else will grow.





And if you're wondering, no. No blanket flowers came home with me. I have terrible luck with them anyway and at best make it 2-3 years for me I do love them though and they perfectly pick up the yellows and reds in my Opuntia (which is also flowering right now) but really I can get them anytime. Not so much with Arum cornutum & Euphorbia 'First Blush.'

I even get tomorrow off to plant everything. I wonder where it'll all go...

A few things

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NOID Red Rose

I promised you pictures of my NOID Red Rose when it was open and putting on a good show and now it is. It's even slightly fragrant, though beside my Hall's honeysuckle and at only 2' tall it's hard to tell.



Mammillaria prolifera

I must have missed my Mammillaria prolifera flowering because I have 5 new fruit ripening on it. Apparently they taste good? Maybe I'll try harvesting one soon to see. The fruit are definitely longer lasting and showier than the flowers though from the pictures I've seen.



Sedum ewersii

It's official, I have a problem. I can't help myself when it comes to small Sedum like Sedum ewersii. I'm not even sure if I want to. Cute blue leaves edged in pink gave me no choice on this one. Pink flowers in the fall sound nice too.



Kalanchoe sp.

This Kalanchoe came home with my dad today. I think it's because my mom got a new African Violet and I got a Sansevieria cylindrica a few days ago.

New Perennials in blue

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While my long time absolute and unrivaled favourite perennial Salvia has been Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ I had to have ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ when I saw it today. It lacks the dark purple stems of ‘Caradonna’ but has absolutely massive (for the species, anyway) flowers in a nice blue colour.



Salvia nemorosa ‘Rhapsody in Blue’

I expect (and hope for) similar performance to ‘Caradonna’ - low maintenance, low water needs, long flowering time (including a second round of flowering in the fall).

I also picked up a few more Sedum species (I might have a problem).



Sedum pachyclados


Sedum hispanicum var. minus 'Blue Carpet'

The first of these (Sedum pachyclados) forms attractive rosettes with white flowers in spring and again later in the summer.

The second (Sedum hispanicum var. minus 'Blue Carpet') forms a low mound of blue-green leaves with white or pale pink flowers. Seems to have a purple/pink winter colour as well.

One of these Sedum will be going between/around a Hosta 'June' and the Salvia above where it will also be allowed to spill out onto the patio.

New Plant: Sedum album 'Faro Form'

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We've been getting a ton of perennials in over the past little while and that means lots of things that are really nice that I think I need to buy.

Fortunately these are all hardy plants that I can keep outside year round and not have to worry about at all winter and even better most are $5 or less.

First of these I'll write about is Sedum album 'Faro Form,' an adorable tiny Sedum I fell in love with at first sight.



Sedum album 'Faro Form.' That's a 4" pot.


Sedum album 'Faro Form,' closeup.

It's supposed to be the red colour in winter and summer (but green in spring and fall?) and stay less than 1" tall at maturity.

Plants like this will make up the bulk of my purchases this year as they're cheap, interesting and can fill small spaces between larger plants I already have.

New succulents

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I've recently gotten a few new succulents.



Echeveria cv.

One new Echeveria. It's a touch etiolated but I imagine that's fixable. It's fairly compact at the tip, it's just got a long stem leading up to the good parts. Just pot it deeper into the soil? Cut it off and re-root and see if the stem will re-sprout? It's got some nice colour to it. The lower leaves were badly wilted when I got it but I gave it a good soak and they've plumped almost right up. The soil it's in right now is really bad though because of the way it pulls together when dry.



Haworthia sp.

Another new Haworthia. No ID on it and I haven't really gone looking yet. It's nice though. All the conversation starting ability of its windowed leaves with none of the difficulty of Lithops etc.

I've read that Echeveria and Haworthia both prefer some shade during mid afternoon but otherwise like lots of sun? Would that be a fair assessment? Water when dry for both as well?

I've also gotten a small offset from a nice blue Echeveria that seems to grow to about 4" across and offsets readily. Also about 3 small stem cuttings from a Sedum morganianum and a good sized piece of Sedum burrito that fell off a hanging basket when it was being unpacked. Even if they root quickly it will be a long time before I've got anything of note out of them. I've got time though. And I'd rather not pay $35 for a 6-8" hanging basket. Especially when there's an agave geminiflora that I'd much rather pay well to get a good sized specimen than something like a Sedum.

Succulent bowls

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I found two 12" shallow clay pots in my garage I'm planting up with succulents this summer. So far costs are staying low by using donated cuttings and found scraps.

Here are the early parts of the first bowl, with a Sempervivum cultivar that's been shared around and around on the street - it's a large growing type that is extremely prolific. A decent sized patch will end up with several blooming plants each year but will fill in before you notice a hole once they're done flowering. The whole plant turns dark red over the winter (you can still see some of the colour at the tips) and keeps some of the colour over the summer. I also have a few cuttings off an unknown Sedum (Sedum rupestre? It does look very much like a blue form of 'Angelina' - maybe 'Blue Spruce?'). I'll probably be planting some of this around the base of my Clematis alongside my Hosta 'June' - the blues can play off each other well and the textures will contrast beautifully.



Sedum rupestre 'Blue Spruce'

I think I'll be picking up a bag of Pea Gravel for a top dressing. I'm thinking about adding in a little pot of ice plant (Delosperma sp.) and a different looking 'Sempervivum' as well ('Oddity' or 'Cobweb' or something like that). Either the same or a different Sedum will round things out on the other side of the pot. I guess I could include a non-succulent drought tolerant plant like Woolly Thyme as well. It's good practice I guess because I'll be doing up containers like this with hardy succulents at work. I can try different combinations there too (and price is really no big deal). It's nice having succulents that would typically be low ground covers in a container where they can be appreciated up close.



Sempervivum cv. Click to view larger to see the adorable little spines along the leaves and another picture here.

I'm thinking of going more tropical with the second container with Echeveria, Sedum, and maybe a Kalanchoe thyrsiflora. Maybe some random unlabeled succulents I can get for something like $4 each plus cuttings to fill.

New Perennials for 2010 + New Plant.

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I spent all yesterday being trained - part of this included talks from a number of suppliers each of whom talked about the new introductions they're carrying.

One of the most exciting perhaps was the Heucherella 'Golden Zebra' because it has very similar foliage to Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial,' only hardy, and with more of everything.

There were a few double Helleborus from the "Winter Jewels TM" line - 'Painted Doubles' was the nicest we saw in flower. One that was supposed to be white was actually pink, and one that was supposed to be purple was also pink, and they were both very nice but just not as nice as 'Painted Doubles'

Heuchera 'Mint Julep' was nice as well. Would be excellent if you've had bad luck with Brunnera 'Jack Frost' but want similar colours in your shade garden.

Hosta 'Niagara Falls' was an interesting new take on a common plant. This site has a nice picture of one. The veining is nice enough I guess but the undulated leaf margin is a really nice touch.

Sedum telephium ssp. ruprechtii ‘Hab Gray’ has yellow flowers. Cool.

I walked away from the meeting with a Colocasia 'Diamond Head' which I'll take a picture of on the weekend. Solid black leaves (they uncurl green but seem to quickly darken) on burgundy petioles. And it can get big.

I'm also beginning to feel less strongly about needing that orchid. There are actually two and they're still there. I might wait and see if they go on clearance when they finish blooming.

Update: The Colocasia has some pretty bad hard water marks on the leaves, picture will be delayed.

Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

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I've never been a huge fan of this plant before. It never looks good when I see it for sale but then I saw this at the Toronto Botanical Gardens a few weeks ago.



Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

I'm definitely seeing that there's much more to this plant than I first thought! I'm not a terribly huge fan of plants with yellow leaves though I'm certainly warming to them and can definitely see that they can work very effectively where appropriate. Especially when it looks this awesome in winter!

(Scroll down to the very bottom of this post to see a fantastic pairing of Sedum 'Angelina' and Iris 'Gerald Darby' I found while Googling the Sedum.)

Succulents, followup

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So I have my list narrowed down to a few selections that might work out well for me.

Sansevieria trifasciata 'Hahnii'


Sansevieria trifasciata 'Hahnii'

Tolerates less than perfect lighting, stays relatively small (to 12" I believe? Varieties with less green should grow slower and stay smaller I imagine) and has a nice compact shape.

Haworthia sp.


Haworthia glauca

There are a lot of these that I like, and most stay small. There's usually a decent selection of these readily available so I'll have to see what's around and choose from those.

Sedum morganianum


Sedum morganianum
(photo by Morningdew51 used under CC license from here)

Nice plant, have seen these in person many times and have been tempted before. Completely different look from anything else I have and available without much searching.

I may be able to get my hands on Sedum adolphii 'Sunset' &/or Sedum nussbaumerianum though I imagine these will be a little pricey for their size but we'll see. Sedum morganianum won't be cheap either for that matter.

Echeveria sp.


Echeveria 'Hummel #1'
(photo by hortulus used under CC license from here)

I've been warned, but these are so nice! I'll get one, but only one, and not spend a lot on it just in case it doesn't work out. I can probably get E. 'Peter von Nurenburg' easily but probably around $10-13 in a 4-4.5" pot. NOIDS should run me a little less but if they aren't exciting enough, or are more expensive that what I'm willing to pay for a NOID... we'll just have to see. The orchid budget comes first, and hardy succulents just may come before tropical succulents.

Other cultivars of note (which I found here) include 'Fire and Ice,' 'Apricot Glow,' 'Debbie,' 'Empress,' and 'Violet Queen.' These cultivars include a large and several smaller plants, as well as anywhere from a tight to a very open rosette, blue/orange/green and purple colours, thick or thin leaves which are round, pointed and ruffled.

Generally speaking the plants on this list are fairly tough, some tolerating less than perfect lighting, the rest interesting enough to justify a front and center place in the big south window right up there with the sun loving orchids, ferns and other orchids can move back and to the sides a little. I'm not likely to try and grab all of these at once but I do want to get most of these, at some point. Maybe the smaller and/or easier ones first, then maybe a more demanding plant later on. We'll see.

I'm also looking at some seeds, mostly to fill a minimum order so I can get something I really want (which is only $2.40, minimum order is $15). They have Echeveria mix, Lithiops mix (sold out) and Lapidaria margaretae (which I wasn't going to get because it sounds fairly tricky to keep happy... but I do need to fill that order!). So... maybe I'll try a few from seed and see what I end up with that way.

Wish list addition: Succulents. All of them.

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I'll be perfectly honest with you: I don't have any succulents (pause while I think about that for a minute... no I think that's about right. Nothing in houseplants anyway).

But the internet is an enabler (people on the internet anyway).



Sedum rubrotinctum
(photo by Noodle snacks used under CC license from here)

Since I started reading garden and plant blogs I've noticed posts about various Aloes and Agaves and have seen Echeveria and Haworthias in stores and in people's posts and generally everything has been positive. Everyone who grows them likes them, I see them I like them, but I haven't ended up with any.



Aloe mitriformis - love the colours and the yellow thorns really pop.
(Photo by Stan Shebs used under CC license from here)

Then I find Far Out Flora shortly before their Senecio rowleyanus post. I've seen these at work all the time in tiny 4" hanging baskets and they were always interesting but I was never overly tempted by them. That's changed. Not to mention this post, this post (that frog planter is perfect I love that orange/pink/blue... plant) and oh my God I need an Aloe polyphylla.



Agave angustifolia var. marginata - been a fan of it for a while. Not sure on houseplant suitability and it looks a little big but I like it.
(Photo used under CC license from here)

Then at Plant Zone there's a link to Amazing Succulent & Cacti Photos and I'm done for. Again plants with that fantastic orange/blue/pink blend in muted tones like Lapidaria margeritae (Go here and do a search for "Lapidaria margeritae" - the first picture you'll find is the one I mean, the colours just don't pop as much in later pictures ) just get to me for some reason and i need one, or at least something with those colours.



Echeveria laui - there's that same pink/blue I mentioned above, minus the orange. Doesn't matter apparently, still love it.
(Photo by Fritz Geller-Grimm used under CC license from here)

Then as I was reading Life Among the Leaves I found a post on Aloes (mmm... Aloe brevifolia...) and another Haworthias...



Aloe polyphylla - anything with that a spiral pattern that strongly pronounced scores huge points with me. Have I mentioned my love of the Gesneriad genus Petrocosmia?
(Photo by Stan Shebs used under CC license from here)

I have two problems with starting a succulent collection - first, no bright windows are free (especially during the winter) and second, what places I might be able to squeeze one are small.



Echeveria 'Black Prince'
(Photo by Noodle snacks used under CC license from here)

But I'm going to get a few, just need a few suggestions of what is attractive &/or interesting ("&" is better, space is limited), fairly easy, and most importantly small (able to be kept in a 4 (to 6)" pot for a fairly significant amount of time. You should be able to get a good sense of what I like by the pictures & links above.

Thoughts? What are your top 3-5 favourite succulents that I should definitely look at?

Fall highlights

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Mostly the classics here. I may have missed the boat on some of the less common ones which have already dropped their leaves - I'll see what I can do for something more interesting for another post.



Spirea betulifolia 'Thor'

'Thor' Spirea is a fantastic plant. Grows about 24" tall by 24-36" wide, white flowers on moderately large blue green leaves through the summer turning intense orange/red in the fall. Similar but larger is Spiraea x media Snow Storm™ - also has white flowers on blue green leaves but turns slightly more purple in the fall but gets around 3-4' tall, 4' wide. Probably my prefered spirea but with limited space 'Thor' is an easy alternative.



Acer sp.

Honestly haven't taken a close enough look at this tree to figure out what type of maple it is... I'll basically though just use this space to say that if you want a maple it's not a Norway Maple! Here at least they rarely get any fall colour to speak of (sometimes yellow-brown) and are always plagued by Tar Spot. Instead look for a nice Acer rubrum cultivar, Acer x freemanii 'Autumn Blaze' is always stunning, or Acer saccharum for a slower growing but also beautiful tree.



Miscanthus sinensis 'Graziella' & Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'



Miscanthus sinensis 'Huron Sunrise'

Ornamental grasses are not only great in fall but some such as Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' are really nice during the summer as well. Most will look good through the winter as well. My Miscanthus purpurascens did not turn red last year or this year or I'd love to say it's nice but so far it's been a disappointment. Nicest Miscanthus in my books probably goes to 'Graziella' for nicest texture, 'Morning Light' wins for best leaves in general having a similar texture to 'Graziella' but with white margins on the narrow leaf but has been moderatly slow to establish and has not yet flowered this year (the flowers are very nice on it so I wish it would bloom!), 'Huron Sunrise' is my favourite for flower colour, though there are many others with similar colours. Mostly I'm just not a fan of Zebra-type or broad leaved variegated Miscanthus cultivars ('Cabaret' etc).



Sedum

Not sure which one this is. Don't really care. They're generally nice and new varieties are popping up all the time. I use them in landscaping but don't know that I could dedicate that much space to one... Maybe a more dwarf purple leaf one like 'Xenox' (I've grown and really like this one!). Biggest thing I like about them is that unlike some of the fall plants like the hot season grasses Sedum will be one of the first plants growing in the spring.