The
succulents pot By Dorothy Dobbie “What’s that?” T
he guests pause over the un-flowering container in my container-full garden, gazing in wonder at
the amazing shapes and textures of the fleshy phe- nomena it harbours. It seems to attract men. This is my succulents container, filled with all the odd plants I could find in our garden centres. It contains stonecrop or sedums ‘Dazzleberrry’
and ‘Anthem’, and Sempervivium ‘Commander Hay’ but there is so much here that I can’t identify. These plants often come labeled as simply “succu- lent” or “sempervivum” or sometimes even “cac- tus”, no matter what their actual name. It doesn’t really matter though, as long as you can
get your hands on a few differents ones and make up an amazing display. Your succulent container might include aloe vera
Crassula ‘Buddha’s Temple’.
or even kalanchoe or a small jade plant; all are succu- lents – plants that store water in their leaves, stems and roots. Those that store most of their water in their roots are known as “caudiciforms”. Many of them will send up shoots and leaves when condi- tions are right, then die back to the above ground caudex (root) when things are tougher. While many plants can be considered succulents, including cactuses, begonias and impatiens, by the word “succulents” gardeners usually mean to speak of those plants that are grown not for their flowers, but for their interesting shapes and foliage. Some people collect succulents and they can be
pretty pricey. Take the rare Odosicyos
bosseri.from Madagascar. It is a caudiciform member of the Cu- curbitaceae family and looks rather like a giant mud
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40