GARDENING great deal of weight to a balcony or deck . Added weight can be a concern for condominium or apartment residents .
GARDENING great deal of weight to a balcony or deck . Added weight can be a concern for condominium or apartment residents .
Succulents actually do better in smaller pots because it is easier to control moisture levels in a smaller container . Two advantages of small pot size are that you can make some very interesting groupings , and you can easily fit the plants into any decorating scheme .
Succulents come in a variety of colours , shapes and textures . Colours range from frosty greens and whites to pearly pink and purple . Some have spots , stripes , fuzz or spikes . The wonderful colours and variety make these plants a natural for grouping together . Find a space in your home for these marvelous little plants that require very little in the way of care but deliver so much punch to the interior or exterior landscape .
Varieties to Try
• Burro ’ s Tail ( Sedum morganium )— Gray-green leaves spiral down from 90-100 cm long stems . It is excellent for hanging baskets .
• Panda Plant or Plush Plant ( Kalanchoe tomentosa )— Fat , furry leaves are all crowded along a fairly upright stem . The furry leaves are silvery with a red-brown edge . Easily grown and propagated , it will grow about 30 cm tall and occasionally blooms in late summer or fall .
• Zebra Haworthia ( Haworthia fasciata )— Growing in a tight little cluster similar to aloe , this variety of Haworthia is called a zebra plant because of the stripes that grow on the outside of the leaves . They stay small , seldom outgrowing a 15-cm pot , and can tolerate lower light levels than most succulents . There are several variations offering different leaf markings .
• Doris Taylor Wooly Rose ( Echeveria ‘ Doris Taylor ’)— This hen and chicks variety , from which there are many to choose , forms rosettes with its leaves and is covered with fine white hairs .
• Echeveria gibbiflora x potosina — Another hen and chick type that has a pink , opalescent colour .
• Graptoveria ‘ Debbie ’— The spiky leaves are a frosted , purple colour .
• Aloe descoingsii Reynolds — The smallest of the aloes , it measures only 5 cm across .
• Living Stones ( Lithops sp .)— These succulents truly look like stones . �
Gerald Filipski is a member of the Garden Writers Association of America and gardening columnist for the Edmonton Journal . He is the author of Just Ask Jerry .
news & views WINTER 2017 | 15