Succulent Gardens Extravaganza, part 2

This is the continuation of yesterday’s post on the 2-day Extravaganza held last weekend (September 30 and October 1) by Succulent Gardens in Castroville, CA.

One of the specialties of Succulent Gardens are “living pictures” or “vertical walls” composed entirely of succulents. Take a look below at the stunning examples I photographed at the nursery.

Living picture at the entrance kiosk

Section of a large vertical wall—any idea how many individual plants there might be?

This post on Succulent Gardens’ blog contains lots of interesting information on creating vertical walls.

This is a much smaller panel for sale at the nursery. While the larger pieces are true showstoppers, I actually preferred these smaller pieces because they allow you to look at each plant individually. I find it very soothing looking at the many different textures and colors.

Succulent cuttings were also used in various pieces of garden décor, such as these birdhouses.

One of the succulent groups particularly well represented at Succulent Gardens are echeverias. I’m quite partial to echeverias and blogged about them in this post.

Several planting strips along the outside perimeter of the nursery feature different species of echeverias, chosen for their particular color and texture. They echo the design patterns found in the vertical walls. I look forward to seeing what these beds look like next year when the plants have grown enough to hide the soil. I think these beds will be horizontal equivalents of “living pictures.”

Echeverias along the outside perimeter of the nursery, flanked by agaves in the back

Echeverias in bloom

The petite but colorful (and long-lasting) flowers are merely the icing on the cake

Inside the greenhouse there were rows of potted echeverias. I had never seen so many echeverias—and so many varieties—in one place before. Check out the many different colors and textures!

Echeverias (left) and zebra plant (Haworthia attenuata) on the right

More echeverias in pots than I care to count

Unlabeled echeveria variety

Amazing how the rosette looks like a fancy flower head

Ruffled echeverias seem to be particularly popular with designers these days.
I see them all the time in magazines and online articles.

Some ruffled echeverias remind me of ornamental kale…

…some resemble fancy sea shells or creatures you might find on the ocean floor…

…while others are truly otherworldly. The bumps on the leaves are called “caruncles;” I wasn’t able to find out what causes these growths, but they seem to be natural (there’s a naturally occurring subspecies called Echeveria gibbiflora subsp. carunculata). Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to these plants. Myself, I don’t know what to think. I’m definitely fascinated and intrigued. If you think that the plant above is unusual, check out this thread for an even more outrageous “warty” echeveria.

As much as I enjoyed looking at some many different echeveria species and cultivars, I was even more enthralled by Succulent Gardens’ displays of aeoniums. I grow a few aeonium species myself (read this post) but I have to keep them out of the hot afternoon sun and protect them on cold winter nights.

In contrast, the climate in Castroville is just about perfect for aeoniums. The proximity of the ocean (the Pacific is just 5 miles away) keeps temperatures moderate even in the middle of the summer and prevents damaging frosts in the winter.

Aeoniums in nursery containers growing outside

I had never seen veritable hedges of aeoniums! The purple ones (Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’) were over 6 feet tall.

These aeoniums seem to be dancing…

…and these look like green and red artichokes. Unfortunately, these plantings weren’t labeled, so I don’t know what species or hybrid these are.

Aeonium decorum ‘Sunburst,’ probably my favorite of them all

This ‘Sunburst’ had almost no green

‘Sunburst’ poking out of a huge clump of a green variety with reddish margins
(possibly an Aeonium arboreum hybrid)

Perfect ‘Sunburst’ rosette

These ‘Sunburst’ rosettes reminded me of dahlia flowers

‘Sunburst’ up close

And another one—it’s hard to stop!

If you though the echeveria with caruncles was weird, what about this aeonium? It’s a crested ‘Sunburst,’ a growth mutation sought after by many collectors. Instead of producing one regular-sized rosette, this weirdly distended stem is covered with hundreds if not thousands of tiny rosettes.

Here’s me holding a soda can to give you an idea of how large some of these rosettes were!

Different aeoniums planted side by side along the entrance to Succulent Gardens…

…combined with low-growing Senecio serpens for an extra pop of color and complementary texture. If I lived in a frost-free climate, I’d reproduce this planting exactly as is.

If the battery in my camera hadn’t died, I would have taken even more photos, but I’m sure you got an idea of how impressive Succulent Gardens’ growing grounds are. If you’re ever on the Monterey Peninsula on vacation, I highly recommend you make the short drive up Highway 1 to Succulent Gardens. I’m not sure they’re open to the public on a daily basis, so call ahead.

I’d like to thank owner Robin Stockwell, his dedicated crew, and the many volunteers for a truly spectacular event. In the morning there were free donuts for visitors, and throughout the day there was bottled water and various kinds of soda, all chilled. As I was leaving, I even saw a keg of beer being set up! I wish I could have stayed, but I had to dash off to meet up with my family who were visiting my wife’s 96-year old great aunt in nearby Watsonville. I brought her a Graptopetalum pentandrum subsp. superbum, and she was delighted. I don’t think she’d ever seen a purple succulent before in her 96 years.

Of course I didn’t leave Succulent Gardens without buying a few treasures for myself. Here are some photos of my haul.

As purchased at Succulent Gardens…

…and repotted in larger containers

Aeonium ‘Catlin Hybrid.’ I now regret only getting one. Two or three planted in a bowl would have made for a nice presentation.

Aeonium decorum ‘Sunburst’

Aeonium tabuliforme (it really is almost flat)

Echeveria ‘Lady Aquarius’
(no, I couldn’t resist, I had to get a ruffled one)

Echeveria gibbiflora ‘Arlie Wright’

Crown of thorns (Euphorbia millii).
It has beautiful red flowers, but I will admit that I got it for its impressive thorns.

                                                                                                                                   
 

I love the thorns and the beautifully mottled “bark”

Velvet elephant ear (Kalanchoe beharensis). This is the complete opposite of the crown of thorns above. The leaves feel like felt. It’s hard to stop rubbing them, they’re so soft and fuzzy!

It’s difficult to photograph “fuzziness,” but here you can see the fine hairs that make this plant so irresistible. I saw a much larger (and much more expensive) specimen at a local nursery this summer, and I’m glad I found an inexpensive plant at Succulent Gardens. Kalanchoe beharensis doesn’t tolerate temperatures much below freezing, so I’ll bring it inside in the winter.

It was very hard to limit myself to these choices, but there’s always next year. From their Facebook page, I gather that Succulent Gardens will host another Extravaganza next year. If you like succulents and live in Northern or Central California, I can’t think of a better event to attend! I’m glad I made the 3 hour drive!

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DON’T MISS: Fellow blogger Candy “Sweetstuff” has a great write-up about the Succulent Gardens Extravaganza on her excellent succulent blog. Check it out here.

Succulent Gardens Extravaganza, part 1

Last Saturday, October 1st, I attended Succulents Garden’s Extravaganza in Castroville, CA. This two-day open house by what has to be the largest succulent nursery in Northern California was chock-full of talks and demonstrations. According Succulent Garden’s Facebook page, 600 people had signed up, but from the number of cars and people I saw on Saturday, the number of guests might have been even higher.

I wish I’d had time to be there on both days because the schedule of events truly was special (see here if interested). Luckily, I made it in time on Saturday morning to hear Debra Lee Baldwin, author of Designing with Succulents and Succulent Container Gardens, speak about the use of succulents in residential landscaping.

                                                                                                                                             
 

Debra Lee Baldwin’s books

Debra is not only a leading garden writer, she’s also a gifted photographer (many of the photos for her two books were taken by her). Her slide show was beautiful and inspirational; unfortunately the projector didn’t work correctly and none of the reds in her photos were reproduced.

One important point Debra made in her talk is particularly relevant to California since our climate is so dry and wildfires are common every summer: Thanks to leaves filled with moisture, succulents are arguably the best type of vegetation you can grow to protect your house from wildfires. Debra has an interesting article about this topic on her website.

After Debra’s talk I began to explore the nursery and soon I was happily lost among thousands upon thousands of plants. I meant to attend another talk at 1pm but looking at so many different succulents (the nursery grows more than 700 species) was so much fun that I decided to skip the talk in favor of taking photos.

I ended up with so many good photos that I decided to split this post into two parts. Today I’ll focus on cacti, agaves and aloes, and tomorrow I’ll talk about echeverias and aeoniums, two groups of plants particularly well represented at Succulent Gardens.

Ready to take a walk through the nursery? Let’s start at the logical spot: the entrance.

One side of the entrance is landscaped with cacti. While this is a beautiful spot, the impression is a bit misleading: The nursery doesn’t seem to grow a lot of cacti. This was a bit of a disappointment to me, considering my recent infatuation with these prickly beasts. I saw a few golden barrel cacti, mammillarias and torch cacti for sale in the arts and crafts area, but just one type of prickly pear growing in the production greenhouses.

Opuntias, echinopsis, and barrel cacti at the entrance to Succulent Gardens

I love how they planted the spaces between the rocks in the retaining wall with echeverias

Echeveria imbricata in the planting pockets between rocks. This species offsets very quickly.

One of my favorite barrel cacti, Ferocactus peninsulae.
The flowers are truly spectacular.

Ferocactus peninsulae flower. I was hoping to find a specimen for sale, but no luck.

Unidentified echinopsis in bloom

Closeup of echinopsis flowers

Poking around the nursery, I found this blooming prickly pear (opuntia). Unfortunately, there was no label, but the flower was jaw-droppingly beautiful. Check out the iridescent glow of the petals. If anybody can ID this species, please leave a comment at the bottom.

Unidentified opuntia in bloom

This grouping of golden barrel cacti (Echinocactus grusonii), Agave macroacantha (?) , and an unidentified aloe and columnar cactus looks great against the stucco wall on the left and the corrugated metal on the right. Lots of texture.

Great mixture of xeric succulents for texture

“Inspired” is the perfect word for this juxtaposition of golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) and Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop.’ While the roundness of the cactus is loosely mirrored in the rosettes of the aeoniums, the contrast between the stiff cactus spines and the soft leaves of the aeoniums is wonderful.

Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop’ and Echinocactus grusonii

Agaves are what got me interested in succulents a number of years ago, and I’m still partial to their bold shapes and their edginess. Succulent Gardens had quite a few agaves planted out along the edges of their 3-acre property and also in various places inside the nursery.

                                                                                                                                                
 

Left: Agave americana ‘Mediopicta Alba’
Right: A solitary Agave weberi and Agave ‘Cornelius’ planted en masse

Agave weberi and the shadow of a yucca on the corrugated metal wall

Agave ‘Blue Glow’ with back-lit leaf margins

And here are some agaves growing in pots.

Top: Agave striata
Bottom: Agave ‘Confederate Rose’ (?)

Agave filifera in 1-gallon pots

Foxtail agave (Agave attenuata) and liveforever (Dudleya brittonii), a Baja California-native I find particularly beautiful

Dudleya brittonii. Its leaves are almost blindingly white.
Very difficult to grow in our climate (too hot in the summer).

Moving from agaves on to aloes. I saw several larger aloes planted outside but I wasn’t able to identify them. Due to harsh lighting conditions I didn’t even bother to photograph them.

Here are two aloes I did recognize instantly. They’re so unique, there are no other species that look anything like them. They also happen to be my favorite aloes.

Fan aloe (Aloe plicatilis). This species is truly spectacular with its leaves that look like fleshy tongue depressors arranged in a fan shape. Aloe plicatilis used to be quite uncommon five years ago but I’m seeing it in more and more nurseries. In addition to this beautiful specimen I saw lots of 1-gallon plants that already had a nice trunk with two leaf fans.

Spiral aloe (Aloe polyphylla). Arguably the most spectacular aloe of all. Thanks to tissue culture propagation much more available (and affordable) than before, but still vexingly difficult to grow in hot climates. I’m on my second specimen and I keep it in the shade when temperatures are above 90°F. Native to the Drakensberg Mountains of Lesotho, a small country in the south of Africa, Aloe polyphylla is quite hardy (5-10°F, i.e. zone 7) and likes more water than most other aloes.

Adult plants form the characteristic spiral, either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Alan Beverly of Ecoscape is the world’s leading expert on Aloe polyphylla. I would have loved to hear his presentation on Friday. I bet it was fascinating. Luckily, there’s quite a bit of information on Aloe polyphylla on his website.

Succulent Gardens grows hundreds of other succulents, including dozens of sedums, sempervivums, crassulas, kalanchoes, etc. etc. I would have needed days to photograph them all. I didn’t want to block the aisles of the greenhouses so I didn’t even try to do any serious macro photography. However, I did take a few photos of sempervivum flowers. I’m always amazed by the outsized and intricate flowers produced by these small succulents.

Unlabeled sempervivums in 6-inch containers,
many of them in flower

Sempervivums are monocarpic, i.e. the rosette that flowers will die. Luckily, there are lots of babies to keep the cycle going.

Closeup of sempervivum flower. Look at the many different colors and hues.
There’s even some blue in there!

Tomorrow I will write about the echeverias and aeoniums I saw at Succulent Gardens, and I will also reveal my purchases—you didn’t think I left without buying something, did you?

(Part 2 is up now; click here to read it.)