Spiky obsession

Sadly the rockery stone didn't turn up today as planned. Apparently the person who took the order didn't bother to write down that they were to be delivered today, although strangely they did manage to take all the payment details and take that from my account.

So to cheer myself up and so the day wasn't a total waste, I started to put plants out on the rockery. I find it easier when building a rockery like this, to set the plants out before the gravel and stone gets added. That way I can place the stone around the pots, and plant it up as I go. It is much easier than having to try to dig holes in gravel.

I'm sorry about the photo, the light was all wrong, but it was so exciting to be placing plants.

The cycad has to go in the middle and that will change the feel a lot, but it isn't quite right yet. I may move the variegated yucca to where the agave bracteosa is at the back, then move the aloe striatula to where the yucca was, and then agave bracteosa to where the aloe was. No doubt there will be a few games of musical chairs until it is actually planted. There are some echeverias ear marked for there as well, it will depend a bit on space. Currently I am thinking to keep this as a very neat bed, and not a more lush look, but a stream of blue echeverias running through it could look good.

The big advantage to these types of rockeries is that large bits of concrete and stone should work as a heat sink and provide a bit of extra winter protection. I know by the time the cold arrives the heat will have gone, but even so plants against big rocks still do better.

I also decided the vertical posts were too harsh without plants, so until the bamboo and tree ferns arrive, they make ideal vertical panters.

It is great to have plants out in the garden and not just in pot storage areas.

Today in the garden was all about shapes.

Hexagons.

The is the matting used for the path. It has a membrane to restrict weeds and then when plastic hexagons which hold the gravel and keep it nice and firm. Amazing even this small relatively thin sheet is rated to take vehicles including vans when used for driveways.

Filling it, you can leave the hexagons showing if you wanted.

Circles.

Whose idea was it to have a circular seating area. The sheets click together nice and easily, and can be cut to shape. There is a separate sheet for the man-hole cover, it's been left for now as sadly the builders are back next week to finish off and may need access.

S

The S shaped path seemed like a good idea at the time. Amazingly, the measurements worked out as expected and there was enough matting to do the entire area without having to go and buy any more.

?

So was it worth it?

It's been a hectic few days, after two false starts the rocks and gravel turned up for the rockery and paths, 3 tonnes of rock and 1 of gravel meant it was always going to be a hard work weekend. It didn't get off to the best start, the first pallet of rock off the truck the pallet snapped the stone was not balanced and the whole lot fell off. So much for the nice gentle start. The rest wasn't much smoother but we got there in the end. (This is the two pallets that made it to the curb, the other tonne is sprawled over the front garden.)

The afternoon was spent entertaining the neighbours, to apologise for monopolising the parking during the build. The weather was perfect for gardening, so I had to stop myself from thinking this was interfering with the things I should be doing. Once people had left it was time to get on with the paths which was the focus of Saturdays post.

On Sunday, I had a little help from my oldest nephew, who luckily happens to be a rapidly growing rugby playing fitness fanatic. It was time to move all the rocks and to at least get the cycad rockery started. Moving them went well, although with only 2 tonnes in the back, and the main rockery not built yet, it takes up a lot of space.

For my last garden I used river boulders, this time it is a grey sandstone. The colour is good, but a lot of the rocks are thin and flat meaning it is harder to get the look I want. I guess it is just getting used to the different shapes and is one reason for starting with a smaller section. Hopefully by the time I get to the main succulent bed, I'll have worked out the best way to use the rock to show it off.

Anyway, by about 4pm there was enough complete for the real fun could start. For the first time since moving we actually had plants coming out of pots and into the ground.

Originally I used the same gravel for the path and rockery, but the bricks looked out of place. While they will weather, in the end I felt the more traditional gravel worked better overall. I am sure it will evolve as I live with it.

For a first run I am quite pleased, it will definitely do for this summer as it settles in and I see what likes the location and what struggles. The plant list is quite limited with agave parasana, agave bracteosa, aloe striatula, aloe aristrata, aloe poyphylla, echeveria elegans, a twin headed yucca gloriosa and the cycad revoluta.

So far I've only planted up to the posts. The next stage will be to plant up the other half most likely with alpines. The flat rock would actually lend itself to the garden style of the moment: a crevice garden. It's tempting try one out, but undecided at the moment.

In the mean time I'll enjoy getting used to the different views and give my body a chance to stop aching.

It is very exciting to finally have plants in the ground!

The in-laws coming to stay, three birthday parties and a 50th wedding anniversary party all meant it was not a very productive weekend in the garden. The great thing about it's current state though, is that I can now potter around doing little jobs, or just water and weed the pots. So in between everything I got the alpine section of the rockery planted up.

I decided in the end to make it a home for some of the sempervivums I have accumulated over the last few years. It looks a bit empty at present as they have been given space to fill out, but in a year or so should look good.

I have selected some of my favourite varieties and it is good to get them out of their pots and give them a bit of space.

Sempervivum 'Engles'

Sempervivum 'Green Dragon'

Sempervivum 'Apple Blossom'

Sempervivum 'Lavender and Old Lace'

Sempervivum 'Rosie'

Sempervivum 'Virgil'

I have put some of the big boys in as well to see how they do with space

Sempervivum 'Orthello'

Sempervivum 'Packardian'

Sempervivum 'Titania'

There was also room one of the dwarf pines, it gives a bit of variety and will provide shade from the strongest of the summer sun. Apparently it only grows to 3 - 4 feet and should take a long time to get there.

No doubt I will add more rocks of smaller sizes and swap out any of the sempervivums that don't perform. There is also one more alpine to go in, my alpine nemesis scleranthus biflorus

Having failed twice in pots, I am hoping that it will be more successful in the ground.

It seems to be that days in the garden involve hours of digging and sorting soil, or moving rocks. Today did not disappoint, with real progress on the main succulent rockery. The idea was to build a bank up to the top of the patio wall and continue it around along a new wall down the fence line.

The photo above shows the area ready for work. The plan for the day was to start the bank and see if it would reach the top of the patio wall. It started ok, but very quickly became clear that there was not going to be any where near enough material to bank all the way to the top.

I have been given strict instructions not to put anything sharp near the top of the wall, it will form a seat for the table, and it would be a shame to spike anyone sitting there. With the lower height and saving the big agaves for the far corner it should be save.

Sadly even with the reduced height I am going to need to sort out some more ballast; we are down to the last pile of builder rubble and that is almost gone.

That lot is not even going to get me to the fence, so it is time to think of a back up plan. In the mean time I can plant up the first bit and it will give me an idea of how much soil and gravel I am going to need.

With the first part getting there, the patio end to the garden is starting to pull together.

There is still a way to go, but hopefully I'll meet my deadline of getting the succulent beds built and planted before the end of July. I have strict rule of no planting succulents in the ground after July; it gives them time to settle before winter and they have a better survival rate.

It is good to have the yucca rostratas back again. They have not liked the move and being in pots. Given they drop their roots as soon as you suggest touching them I guess it is no surprise.

In a blatant spin-off from Dangers Gardens "My favourite plant this week", which is excellent for those that have not seen it (The latest post can be found here), my favourite tools this week are giant tweezers and tin snips. Shown in the photo below with a standard trowel for size.

The giant tweezers look like a joke but are perfect for fishing leaves out of those hard to reach agave and yucca crowns.

The tin snips, usually used for cutting thin metal sheet, turn out to be perfect for trimming dead leaves off yuccas and dasylirions. I must admit to being in the "no skirt" group. Before you get too concerned this is just a term used to describe the ring of dead/old leaves that hang down around the trunk forming a skirt. Some people think the plants look better in this more natural state, for me though they have to go. Getting in to trim them off you need something with enough power to cut through the fibrous leaves but precise enough to get a good clean look. Secateurs are often not strong enough, and sheers are messy. The tin snips made light work of a dasylirion serratifolium and I'm amazed I never thought of using them before.

As it happens dasylirion serratifolium would be my favourite plant in the garden this week. It has been in a pot since I got it, and really needs to get into the soil as it must be chronically root bound by now. It copes with London winters unprotected without any problems at all, and apart from having to watch the serrated leaves needs no care at all. Pop over to Loree's Danger Garden blog to see what others have selected as their favourite plants.

Building the main succulent rockery has been a lot of physical lugging or rock, soil and gravel. Monday saw the final large delivery of soil and gravel, time to enlist the family for one final push. In the morning the bed was set out ready, extra blocks had been added over the weekend to build up the end so it was ready to go.

The vertical posts had also been added continuing the wave from the side garden. It was interesting having both the oldest nephew and niece around, they are really getting into gardening; not just the plants but the design as well and there were several discussions about why things were going in certain locations.

By lunch the plants were going in and the biggest rocks were in place.

Then it was just a matter of selecting the best rocks to create a more terraced look.

The gravel ran out before the entire bed was covered, but as the front row has to be finished it's no disaster.

Now the real fun can begin. With most of the big plants in, I can start to see the gaps and where all the bonus interest can be added. every time I look around it I see crevices in rocks that I can see being filled with some choice alpine.

The backbone is there and will fill out over the next few years, but what will really set everything off is the other plants that are not noticeable at first, or that bring colour at different points of the year.

There are so many good corners, gaps, hidden spots I am going to be able to add a lot more plants than expected. There is no rush to do this; I have some plants ready, other gaps will be an opportunity to buy one of the plants off my must have list. Hopefully I will be able to restrain from planting any old plant, to fill the spaces with those rare or special varieties.

Lots of new views to discover

The agave x nigra didn't seem to mind being in pots, the root balls were really strong and there are pups on each plant. They look good and blue against the rocks which wasn't planned but one of those happy coincidences.

One of my favourite aspects to the bed is the different view you get when sitting on the wall at the table. It's nice to look down on the plants while also being able to touch them

Plenty of space in there for some litte (and not so little) gems.

There is still a lot of work to do to get it looking how I want, but the main physical stuff is done with the fun bits to go.

The area around the patio is almost finished, or at least it's looking like a garden. At some point I am going to have to buy some non-spikey plants to fill the beds along the fence. I'm not going to have an excuse to delay it much longer.

Back in the middle of May I posted that one of the first jobs getting back in to the greenhouse was to chop up my largest echeveria agavoides ebony, the original post can be found here. At the end of the last post the main head looked like this:

Time for an update.

The plants have been sitting on a tray developing roots since the last post. This is probably a bit extreme, normally I would wait until the first roots stared to show and then rest very lightly cover in slightly damp soil. I know it is bad, but with everything else going on it kept getting put off. While the plants are behind where they would normally be, it is an ideal opportunity to see how the good root development:

As the stem rotting was an issue, it also means I can be sure that was no longer a problem. Good roots and no sign of rot means it was time to pot up.

I have been looking for a plant to put in a large bowl as a real feature. I figure echeveria agavoides ebony would make quite a bowl. There was another plant waiting to be homed as well, so it made sense.

The new plant has a very different look to my main plants, it came form really reliable source so it will be interesting to see how it develops.

The pot will be placed in the shade and gradually moved out into full sun. If previous growth is anything to go by they should be well settled and starting to fill the pot by the end of the summer. Hopefully in time the whole pot will be overflowing with plants. Especially if I can learn from the past and actually just leave the plants to get on with it and not meddle. It should make quite a feature in the garden.

With the back garden starting to take shape, time spent outside is getting back to a more normal routine. Walking around this evening I couldn't help but think of one of the early memories of my parents in their garden. My dad would get back form work, and after greeting my mum with a hug and a kiss, saying hello us kids, the two of them would head out to walk around their garden. I never really understood what they did, it seemed to involve a glass of wine, a slow wonder pointing out plants that are doing well and usually being followed by at least one of the family cats and dogs. They still do this to this day, only now they are no longer interrupted by the kids.

View from seats in the side garden

What struck me was how I now continue this tradition. Getting back from work, I say hello to my OH and head out to look around the garden. If the weather is fine, my OH may join me with a glass of wine, and while she is not really interested in plants, she doesn't mind me pointing out the odd plant doing well and we catch up on events of the day.

Main succulents rockery in the evening sun

When I was young I didn't really understand why they did it, in fact I didn't really understand until I properly got into my succulents about 10 years ago. Now it seems the most natural thing in the world and something I look forward to throughout the day. I am guessing this evening stole is quite common among gardeners around the world, with or without a drink and family pets. What better way to relax after a day at work, especially in the long UK summer evenings.

Tonight as I looked around the plants all seemed to be settling in, if I needed a sign of this I found several not least the smallest cycad revoluta sending out a new flush.

Normally I would cut the old fronds off at around this point, the winter was so mild that this set have very little damage. They have relaxed slightly, so once the new flush is completed I'll decide how it all looks and decide then.

So have have you carried on any family traditions in the garden, or have you come up with your own new ones?

With plants in the ground and settled in I am finally able to take plant in Loree's (Danger Garden) "my favourite plant in the garden this week". You can see Loree's selection here. There are a few plants shouting for attention but in the end I decided on one of the smallest plant in my garden orostachys fimbriata. It part of the Crassulaceae family, although looks very much like a sempervivum at this stage. It forms neat little rosettes and tight clumps over time. Mine is much more compact that my orostachys spinosa, although this could be unusual.

It looks very fragile in the alpine rockery, hopefully it will be hardy for me. If it carries on looking this good I'll probably end up finding a rain cover to keep the worst of the weather off.

No flowers yet, which I am sort of pleased about. It is monocarpic so the flowering head will die afterwards. At the same time the flowers are what the family are known for and it seems to offset readily so the next generation will take over. I can wait a year for flower though, in the mean time I will just enjoy it hiding among the gravel.

One of the groups of plants I have most been looking forward to getting back in the ground are the sempervivums. With the alpine section of the first rockery planted (you can find the post here), some of my favourites were given their new homes. Most have settled in better than I could have hoped, even though this is a low time of year for growth as it is a little hot.

The s. virgil has coloured up perfectly and is gunning to be top semp in the bed. I'm expecting it to fill in those gaps quickly as it was one of the best all-round performers at the last house. The only problem with it, are it can over pup creating an unruly clump. Not a bad problem to have I'm sure you'll agree.

I have also started planting some semps into gaps in the main succulent bed.

This little one is s. arachnoideum x nevadense. It has never quite looked as good as when I first bought it. The clump is good, but they are not growing to their full potential as shown below.

I'm not sure if it needs more heat or what. Hopefully the new location will suit it better and it can flourish and give me rosettes like that again.

Some are showing their contentment by flowering.

S. packardian is a strange one. I understood it was one of the larger forms and yet I have never got them to grow beyond about 7cm. They have a good colour, just disappoint in their size. Again I am hoping the new location will give better results.

With a bit of luck all the semps will bulk up nicely and will be a major feature in the garden come spring. I have quite a few more ideas for using them around the garden, so unlike many of my succulents, I can continue to search out good varieties to increase my collection.

There are a few good things about having a garden again: being able to come home and potter around, having less plants in pots that need watering and best all having an actual excuse to buy more plants. In a previous post on planting up the main rockery (can found here) I mentioned the need to fill in all the little spaces left by the bigger plants. This is a long term project, but does give me a perfect excuse to do a little shopping.

The haul included a couple of saxifragas which should be perfect for stuffing into cracks between the larger rocks. A gypsophila aretoides, in the hope that this one may actually survive if planted.

gypsophila aretoides

A lampranthus roseus (back left), which will hopefully creep along between the plants and a drosanthemum hispidum which is slightly more compact.

drosanthemum hipidum

The flowers are more purple than in the photo. Both of those are marginal hardiness wise for me, but I am hoping with a bit of time to settle in and the large rocks to bake against, they stand a chance. As important will be resisting the temptation to take cuttings and manicure them, as I am prone to doing. I know it doesn't help the plants and they need to be allowed to grow before being cut up, it is just hard to refrain from picking up those scissors.

I also picked up a trio of campanulas, two blue and one white, the over-sized flowers are very delicate.

I am particularly pleased with the white one, campanula carpatica alba. I don't mind admitting I have a thing for white flowers, not the cream or off white, but those perfect white blooms (which are impossible to photograph).

They really stand out once planted, especially catching the last of the sun.

The sempervivum is one I had had before but left have managed to loose somewhere along the line s. 'Ohio Burgundy'. It has a good strong colour and clumps nicely, so will hopefully fill its spot without problems. While I was planting, I remembered there was a bowl of s. 'Lion King' that needed planting. It is one of my faourites so has gone at the edge of the path, so it can be admired.

Finally a larger pot of androsace sempervivoides, I have this plant in one of my alpine bowls and love it. While it is spreading, instead of spoiling the existing bowl, I treated myself.

So a few little gaps filled, but still lots to go. The aim is to carry on like this, selecting a few select plants, more quality than quantity. In the mean time another one of the campanulas, this time campanula x pseudoraineri.

Leave them alone, they will do better if let to get on with it.

The plants are messy, have got leggy living in pots and suffered from neglect during the build. I am having to fight my usual urge to cut them up, divide them, generally interfere.

Surely this lampranthus roseus would look better cut back to force it to grow into a more bushy plant.

But then I would loose the flowers, and it will settle better is left for this summer. Maybe next spring.

What about the aloe striatulas. All growing with one tall stem, dead leaves from bad winters making them look scraggly. One cut and the top can be replanted and offsets will form from the base.

But if I cut them, both the base and the top would struggle to settle before winter. Leaving them may mean I get flowers come spring, and can cut a stronger larger plant.

What about dividing plants that have offset. The agave x nigras both have multiple offsets, it must be time to remove them.

No let it stay with mum until next spring.

What about the ones on the agave bracteosa.

Actually I know someone who would like this offset, it could be removed without problems, but for once I will wait.

Speaking of offsets, maybe some of the clumps could be split. This group of echeveria pulidonis could be split and spread out.

It looks very happy there though, fitting perfectly between the rocks and wood struts. It grew much quicker when left to get on with it anyway, so leave it.

What about the echeveria roseas. So leggy now, not the lush plant they should be.

This really needs cutting back to bring them back to nice bushy plants. Actually I look at this and think it is the wrong plant for that spot. I am constantly going to have to maintain it, maybe an agave would fit there better.

I may finally be learning from the past: let the plants get on with it, they don't need constant manicuring.

Another little Crassulaceae is standing out for me this week. Sedeveria letizia is a hybrid between sedum cuspidatum x echeveria setosa var. ciliatait, it is a small branching succulent that grows to around 20cm tall, with rosettes of around 5cm. The leaves are green with a red tinge depending on light levels. In full sun, or when stressed, it is almost totally red, in shade the rosettes are totally green.

I have been trying it in different types of pots and now planted in the succulent rockery, I am interested to see how this one develops over the rest of the summer. Will it grow up or hang down?

The colour is great and it has already started to send out new branches from the base, which is one of the unusual things about this plant. It doesn't tend to branch from higher up. The older stems can be quite long and skinny, but with new heads forming all the time, it stays nice and bushy.

One of the great things about the plant is that you can simply cut heads off and plant them up to give new plants. If done at the start of spring, by the end of summer it will have started to branch. This gives lots of opportunities to sculpt the plant. This is my main plant, sadly having been in the greenhouse it is green, but I love it anyway. Now things are more settled, it has been placed outside in the hope of getting some colour.

It flowers well, with multiple stalks per stem. The flower themselves are almost pure white (I told you I had a thing for white flowers) and like echeveria flowers they last a long time. For me it is usually in flower from April to June.

If you leave it long enough without cutting it up, it will form aerial roots. These can be left to grow, or removed, it doesn't seem to affect the plant either way. It is possible to leave select roots and these slowly bulk up to give roots that will support the longer stems.

Sadly it's not perfect, for a start it is not totally hardy. Apparently it is hardy to -7C (20F) so far it has been fine in my unheated cold frames or greenhouse. It is borderline for my garden, so it will be interesting to see how the planted one copes this winter. The other thing to be aware of, is it can get leggy if over-fed or grown in lower light levels. I have fallen foul of this a few times (it is really very easy) and had to cut the plant up and start over again.

So there you have sedeveria letizia, my favourite plant in the garden this week. Head over to Danger Garden to see Lorees and others selection.

The front section of the main succulent rockery is finished and stepping back it was good to see what gaps are left for bigger plants. There are 3 or 4 nice spaces along the front ready for one of the agaves or other feature pants.

Looking at the available agaves raised the two issues I have been avoiding: do I risk the marginal, or favourite plants and how much space to allow for the future.

This agave parrasana fits perfectly next to the a. parryi group.

There is a much smaller one planted elsewhere, but I am not sure I want to risk this one. They have scrapped through in my old dry bed, but with damage and never really thrived. I suspect this is due to the small size of previous plants, but the only way to find out for sure is to plant this larger one. Do I risk it?

Another space is perfect for this agave franzonsinii

The colour is great and the plant has room to grow to around 1m. Seems fine until you check on the stats and find that they can grow to 3m. Even 2m would swamp that location.

Maybe the agave mitis albicans would be a good substitute.

Much better size wise, but I've never seen one of these tested for hardiness. The normal form is fine for me, but white versions of plants never seem to do as well. Besides such a nice plant and hard to get hold of, is it worth the risk?

Agave weberi latifolia then.

Apparently around 2m this one, which is on the large size. Plus it is the wide leaf version which is such a good plant. This one manages to fit into both categories.

From the wide leaf to the narrow, agave utahensis

The size is good, and it can take cold if kept bone dry. I wonder if a cloche would be dry enough given it would be grown in almost pure gravel. It is so slow though, any damage really would take for ever to grow out. Probably not worth the risk.

Agave 'Cream Spike' would look great planted, especially as it is getting to a decent size now. I think the plant has now been moved from agave parryi to agave applanata. They have been talking about it for ages.

No one in the Uk plants these out. It has been fine in the cold frame and even just left under rain covers in a pot, but again there is something final about planting it. Does anyone know how these would cope?

I do have two agave gentryi waiting to go somewhere. This is the larger of the two.

No problem with hardiness if protected from the worst of any snow. Again they can get really big, but I am guessing here would probably settle at around 2m. The other one is much smaller currently and is the 'Jaws' form with nice big gums and teeth. I think I'll keep that one in a pot as a feature.

Apart from the immediate problem of finding plants to fill the gaps, it is going to make for a very interesting garden in 10 - 15 years time. On top of large plants here, there are the 4 agave montanas, 2 agave salmianas, and a few variegated agave americanas. That is a lot of agave for a small garden, but when do we ever really think about the ultimate size our plants could get to.

While I decide, some of the remaining pots have been used to fill the gaps.

Moving the pots has freed up the old storage area for the next stage.

This is the area earmarked for more lush planting. Up until now the plants have been spred out and all succulents. The cycad on the left of this photo marks the start of the shift, the idea is to start mixing in other plants and for the everything to be packed together. I am guessing that most of the large agaves from this post will end up in here fighting it out with other plants in my version of a jungle.

But back to the immediate issue, do I risk my prized plants that wont outgrow the spaces, or plant the big ones and either move them later or worry about the overcrowding when it becomes an issue?

I have mixed feelings about naming forms of a plant, sometimes it just feels a bit commercial and a way of trying to get people to by the same plant just by giving it a different name. However this is not the case with echeveria agavoides and there are some truly different forms well worth adding to any collection.

Last year I put a selection of forms into bowl to see how they developed, it highlights how different they can be.

The 4 different forms are 'Lipstick' (front), cv 'Sirius' (left), 'Ebony' (back) and cv 'Romeo'. Each is distinct and can be reactively easily separated.

The most common is 'Lipstick' there is another form called 'red edge', but I find these look pretty much identical and are interchangeable (at least for me). It has one of the most most agave like shapes with good pointed leaves and very structural rosettes.

Like most forms, the stronger the light levels, the better the colour to the leaf edges. It can take a while to settle and then produces multiple offsets giving a very tight clump. I have had mixed results hardiness wise, like many succulents it seems to grow into cold tolerance, so don't leave it out when it is small. However once larger, especially when clumped it copes fine with my -8C winters.

Over the last couple of years new forms have been becoming readily available the most common being e. agavoides cv 'Romeo'.

The leaves are not as pointed as the other forms so it is less agave like. The colour however is amazing, almost aubergine. When I first got this plant I thought it was stressed or a spring colour, it has held its colour and looks pretty much the same all year. It doesn't seem to offset easily though, in fact neither of these cultivars do. I may have a dud of course, and haven't wanted to cut it up to produce more plants. This one has been kept dry over winter but that is all the protection it gets.

The other cultivar is even better, e. agavoides cv 'Sirius', it has the good agave style shape and a very dark colour. The leaf edges are almost black.

I can't really tell you how this one grows, as it hasn't actually done anything in the 2 years I've had it. No offsets, limited growth (which is probably because I got it fully grown) and no changes to the colour.

Finally by far the most sort after e. agavoides 'Ebony'. This is the plant that everyone wants and it is the best form for me. It is the biggest, has the best shape and the very dark leaf edges really make the plant stand out.

This one needs bright light to get any colour. I have seen a lot of plants for sale claiming to be ebony, but looking distinctly like lipstick. In young plants it is difficult to tell them apart and given the demand it is probably no surprise less scrupulous sellers want to pass off plants as this form. Once larger the rosettes tend to be flatter and the leaves look different to the other forms, being a paler green. It actually offsets quite freely, so at some point the market is going to be flooded with them It also takes from leaves, although not as reliably as the other forms. You can also find seeds and it seems to come true to form in the majority of cases. It is also not quite as hardy and you have to watch out for rot.

So there you have the echeveria agavoides group, which are my favourite plants in the garden this week. Head over to see Loree at Danger Garden to see my favourites.

Most succulent fanatics can not help propagating their plants, even when they don't need more. It could be the challenge of trying a new method, or just the thought that it is a waste to chuck anything away when it can be grown into a new plant. Whatever the reason, the result is often a lot of spares sitting around waiting for a good home.

I have been dividing my variegated aloe saponaria over the last couple of years and now have a few pots of different sizes and varying degrees of variegation. With empty spots in the succulent rockery I couldn't resist adding one of the less variegated groups.

It probably wont survive this winter, but the advantage of all those spares means I can see what happens.

While doing this I split out the best one to grow on. They tend to get more variegated as they get bigger often ending up almost totally white or yellow.

I have high hopes for this one for next year, hopefully it will turn out as well as it's grand mum.

One of the things that makes the UK so strange climate wise is the influence of the jet stream. One of the aspects of this is that tropical storms move from across the Atlantic often end up here. This weekend it was the turn of hurricane Bertha. By the time it reached the UK it was no longer classified as a hurricane but still managed 50mph winds and lots of rain. This was the first real rain we have had in weeks, so was welcome especially as the keen eyed among you will have noticed that the turf is down on the lawn, changing it from this:

To this:

I know lawns are not to every-ones liking, but for the time being this fills the space and gives the dog something to play on. Then in the future as the garden develops and the garage is pulled down it can slowly be reviewed with the final design.

The planting up has continued with some more sensible plants than the variegated aloe saponaria from the last post (found here). In the end the agave parrasana minor did go in and will just be covered with rain cover over winter.

The echeveria roseas have been removed as they really didn't work, more on that in another post. In their place goes agave ovatifolia.

It is going to be interesting how his one does. There are very few planted out in he UK, mainly because larger plants have not been available. It should be fine, but the interesting bit is going to be how much damage it suffers or if like a. montana and a. bracteosa it sails though.

Next up were a couple of echeverias, firstly e. black prince. This was planted out in the last garden, so is proven to be fine. The other is a really nice little hybrid sent to me by a lovely echeveria collector who has the most amazing collection. Echeveria FO48 x echeveria elegans

Not the best photo, it is a small freely clump forming plant with a good white colour. Apparently it is also proved to be hardy else where. As it clumps easily, there are spares and this group could go in as a test. It would be amazing if the reports are true and another echeveria can be added to the hardy list.

The first cacti have also been added, there are a couple of planters full that have been left unprotected for the last few years, these seemed obvious contenders for spaces. This oroya peruviana will stay nice and compact so shouldn't cause problems at the front of the rockery.

Having planted all this up, and done a fair amount of repotting for those staying in pots, everything was left to be watered. It seems appropriate that these plants originating from the other side of the Atlantic, got watered by the remains of a tropical storm.

I always dread people buying me plants, what with having very specific taste, most of the common plants I want and little space, it doesn't lend itself to friends and family find things I needed. So it was an especially nice surprise when my parents dropped off this eucomis vandermerwei a few years back. Most people seem to have at least one eucomis in their garden, as I did at the time. I had not heard of this one though, and in fact have yet to see it anywhere else.

As you can see it is a lovely spotted form with very clear, defined purple spots on the leaves which tend to lie more prone to the ground. What makes this form different is the size, it is one of the smallest forms and grows to around 10cm tall. My whole clump, which contains 5 plants, is only 15cm across. It really doesn't show up in photos, and needs to be seen in person to see how perfect a dwarf form it is.

It originates from a high rainfall South African mountain plateau, at altitudes of between 1700 and 2275 meters. This makes is quite used to frosts, although sadly it needs to be kept on the drier side during the very cold weather to do best. Up until now my clump has been in a pot, but I am risking it in the ground where it will get a rain cover to keep the worst of the weather off

It flowers in August for me, with the main plant flowering every year. The offsets have yet to flower, but keeping it restricted in a pot may have slowed their growth.

Being so small, you have to get pretty close to see the flowers properly. It will be interesting to see if it works in the rockery, or if it gets lost.

So there you have eucomis vandermerwei my favourite plant this week. Head over to Lorees blog Danger Garden to see other selections.

It has been a summer of two halves weather wise; June & July were lovely and hot, then August arrived and it has been much colder and wetter. So with wetter weather over the weekend it was time to rectify some of the neglect and get in the greenhouse. With all the work going on with planting the succulent rockeries everything else has taken a back seat. First job to sort out some of the more unkempt plants.

Some like xGraptosedum 'Medterranean Mystery' have suffered from lack of water and low light.

A hybrid apparently common in Europe it is a lovely little plant and quite tough. I am trying one outside unprotected this winter as it is been fine under rain covers before. As they grow they develop woody stalks and at some point they need to be tidied up. I simply cut all the heads off plant root them and bin the old plant. It helps to keep them fresh and gives me new plants for swaps. I managed to get three pots like this one, so not going to go short next year.

That type of tidying was more common with the lack of care, here is echeveria corrinea x echeveira rosea before

Another branching hybrid with really god hardiness and flowers. I really must take better care of it as when well looked after it is stunning.

I decided to leave the top section as one, next year will be the year I finally look after it properly. Then it can take a place in the rockery looking like the plant it should be.

In other cases it is more about getting more plants. I grew a set of ech. subrigida x ech. peacocki from seed a couple of years ago. The plants grew into several forms and I have been trying to get more of my favourite forms.

I love the red edges to this form and it has a good pale blue/white colour. Having top cut it last year, the offsets are now big enough to be taken off.

I am getting better at not rushing removing offsets, I'll leave the others until next spring and decide then if I want to grow them as a clump or cut them up as well.

It doesn't always go according to plan. This is echeveria 'rainbow',

I top cut it last year to encourage offsets, which it did, only not quite as planned.

Yes there are lots of offsets, but all have become almost totally white. Looking at them I can't see any that I think would survive in their own. I guess this one is staying as it is, while we wait and see what happens next. Hopefully they will develop more green and stems so they can be removed.

White offsets seem to be a trend at the moment. Here is one of my echeveria 'Compton Carousel', I took all the lower leaves of at the end of last year to encourage offsets.

I like to call these pure white plants "ghosts", with no chlorophyll they will not survive on their own as they can not feed themselves. It will be interesting to see if they do better as they are growing as branches of a plant. Normally I top cut the plant and let the offsets take over, this one has been left and instead the three largest normal offsets removed and potted up.

I have so far always resisted selling these, I get asked a lot. Instead all the offsets are used as swaps and presents for friends. I mentioned in the last post how I dread people turning up to my house with plants. Strangely I have never had anyone look upset when I turn up with one of these as a little present.

Look plants!

Shapes

Rocks, gravel and finally some plants

A new home for the sempervivuvms

Yet another day of digging and moving rocks

Tin snips are my favourite tool of the week

Planting up the main succulent bank.

Echeveria agavoides ebony update.

Continuing a family garden tradition

Orostachys fimbriata is my favourite plant in the garden this week

The return of Sempervivum Sundays

A little shopping fix

Do not touch them,

Sedeveria letizia is my favourite plant in the garden

Should I go big , or go risky?

Echeveria agavoides is my favourite group of plants this week.

The benefits of propagation

Watering by tropical storm

Eucomis vandermerwei is my favourite plant in the garden this week.

Time to cut up some plants.