Designing with SucculentsHow to incorporate succulents and cacti into your garden design
A cactuscape interplays a carpeting of blueSenecio serpens , smart - yellowEchinocactus grusoniiand candelabra - like pasacana ( Echinopsis pasacanaorTrichocereus pasacana ) . From South America , pasacana resemble the native saguaro of the Southwest ( Carnegiea gigantea ) ; it also flowers nocturnally . Photo by : Jennifer Cheung .
For inspiration from or indoctrination into the amazing world of succulent , calculate no further than the Desert Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino , California . Its 10 - plus Akka are home to 4,000 different kinds of cacti and succulent , grown in a realistic landscape painting stage setting . ( succulent are plant that stash away wet to go drought ; most cacti are succulents . ) With function of the garden nearly 100 yr old , the aggregation has long been a works try ground for garden couturier .
AppealCall it living geometry — the spectacular shapes of cactus , the elegant arrangements of succulent spikelet are endlessly engrossing . Also jimmy are such thing as the soft pastel colors of kalanchoe and shimmering sheets of flowering “ mesembs ” ( from mesembryanthemum , mean “ noonday flowering ” ) in the dead of wintertime . Perhaps best of all is a dull - looking cactus bursting forth with spectacular red flowers that draw in more photographers than insect .
ZonesThe Huntington is in USDA Zone 10 . Most succulents are skillful out of doors in Zones 9–10 . Some yucca and Opuntia tolerate wintertime conditions typical of southerly Canada . Consider cacti and succulent for movable containers in dusty climates .
ExposureFull sunlight is safe for sturdy Southwest natives . piano - will succulent ( such as kalanchoe ) prefer filter good afternoon light . In general , pick out a site offering full sun in the morning , light tone in the afternoon .
SoilMost succulents prefer raise beds or rockeries . arenaceous loam is ideal , allowing pee to drain quick . Improve heavy soil by contribute equal measure of coarse builder ’s sand and gravel .
CareThe rule of thumb is , urine when soil is ironic . But unthirsty barrel cacti postulate weewee at intervals of just one to two month and none at all during the wintertime . Fertilize in spring and summertime with a balanced 10 - 10 - 10 fertilizer .
tip for Using succulent
Read on for 13 succulent and cacti varieties acquire at the Huntington :
Photo by : Jennifer Cheung
[ 1]ALOE‘HENRY HUNTINGTON’close up give away a dramatic golden - lily-livered inflorescence up to 6 animal foot grandiloquent . And it ’s a repetition bloomer . Developed by the Huntington , the plant forms a showy single - head emphasis 8 to 12 feet marvellous .
[ 2]ALOE MARLOTHII , from South Africa , with whorl of spiky leaf , produces canary - yellow or orange flowers conform to bird pollenation . Makes a 15 - understructure plant , salutary specimen for large throne or garden dialect . Behind , Chorisia speciosa(Brazilian floss silk tree ) .
[ 3]AGAVE PARRYIVAR.PARRYI , with black awl - form spines at last of pudgy gray-headed leaves , can take the cold of Zone 7 — it is native to the Chihuahuan Desert . A irksome grower to 30 inch in diam , then after 25 to 35 years it sends up an elegant tree diagram - similar flower stalk .
[ 4]MATUCANA INTERTEXTAis a small globular cactus from Peru , with starry cerise flowers in outpouring . grow out of doors at the Huntington , but is in force as a pot industrial plant . It does better in a coastal environs with cooler summers .
[ 5]ECHINOCACTUS GRUSONIIis the famous golden bbl cactus . It thrive in full Lord’s Day . Good rockery accent or enceinte in a pot . Plant forms a barrel up to 2 foot across , eventually a mound of offset up to 4 groundwork in diam . Zones 7–10 .
[ 6]LAMPRANTHUS AURANTIACUS , a popular ground cover in Southern California , is also utilitarian as an accent or even a potted specimen . sheet of golden - yellowed flush seem in late winter and other leaping .
[ 7]DROSANTHEMUM HISPIDUM , a South African “ mesemb , ” is report to grow outdoors in Colorado , but thrives as a full - sunshine , 8 - column inch - high ground cover in Zones 8–10 . In later spring it is covered with a carpeting of brilliant pinkish flowers . Not full for stabilise hillsides , although frequently used there — its roots are too shallow to bind the land .
[ 8]ECHEVERIAXIMBRICATA , introduced in the 1890s , is a sculptural heritage succulent with soft , pastel pinkish - blue leaves . Thrives in zone 9 and 10 as a rockery plant life in semishade . Becomes hummock mould and can be circularise by start . piddle when leaves become soft .
[ 9]KALANCHOE FEDTSCHENKOImakes a sprawling ground cover or grass plant life in Southern California , where it takes calorie-free frosts . coolheaded temperature add a pink blush to the leaves . If it gets rangy , replant with lead cut in fall or early spring .
[ 10]AGAVE VICTORIAE - REGINAE , Queen Victoria agave , forms a nongregarious ornately decorated rosette that originate up to 24 inch in diameter . Grow it as a rockery piece de resistance or a pot plant in Zones 8–10 . Wait 35 to 45 eld for it to flower .
[ 11]FEROCACTUS GLAUCESCENS , similar to the golden barrel ( both from Mexico ) but little and finally offset to form spiny clusters 2 to 3 feet across . Use as an accent or put in a pot .
[ 12]ALOE‘SOPHIE’is diagnose for my daughter — both delightful and unpredictable ! ‘ Sophie ’ the aloe is a repeat bloomer , a feature rare in aloe , and produces showy canary - yellow blossoms . Performs well in full sun and semishade . Takes temperatures in the high 20s .
[ 13]MAMMILLARIA HAAGEANA , a Mexican pincushion cactus , has midget star - like pinkish flowers as betimes as February .
Huntington Botanical Gardens : ( 626 ) 405 - 2100;www.huntington.org
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