Tag: variegated

The Trouble With Winter-Growing Succulents

Leave a comment

The trouble with succulents is that you can buy them anywhere and they are usually very affordable. So, I’m always dragging new ones home. I need to give some orchids away if I bring many more home.

So, yesterday I got a Crassula Campfire while shopping for T-Day. The most common Crassula is the common jade plant. I love them because their active growth season is winter! But, that only makes them more addictive.

I got looking around at all my Crassula and I have a lot of them!

It took some time to try to classify some of them today. But, that’s what breaks are for, right? Good thing for a snowy, cold Colorado day in my PJs. https://worldofsucculents.com is my favorite site to ID these guys. Disclaimer – I am not a plant scientist so many of these are guesses!

I’ve had some of these guys a long time – like Hobbit.

I’ve had this one on the kitchen windowsill for years.

I also have several living in kokodemas since last year – hung on my pencil cactus.

(Some of them have weird names.)

My year-round ornaments.

I got one labeled “Pagoda” last year, but I think it’s a different Crassula. I couldn’t find it in the listings.

I got little planters that resemble my dogs last year in Moab . . . Two of them have Crassula.

I have some of the cute small stacked ones that I added this Fall.

They are a great addition to container plant groups. the trailing ones are cool.

Some other newer additions are my Propeller or Airplane Crassula.

The Silver Dollar Crassula lives up to it’s name.

And, the curly leafed jade lives up to it’s name, as well.

Honestly, I think I have a couple other Crassulas tucked away on a shelf somewhere.

I will say that I’m glad daylilies are generally name labeled pretty well. My daylilies are all tucked up for the single digit temps this week – under mulch or in the back porch. The trouble with both succulents and daylilies is that they are like Lay’s Potatoe Chips.

Where have all my daylilies gone?

Leave a comment

Hey, it is the 4th of July weekend.  Normal daylily peak bloom in my yard is the next couple of weeks.  I look at my posts to Facebook the past two years, and those blooms are behind. After cool, rainy weather for the last couple of days, I only had three blooms today.  Look, I’ve got over 100 varieties in my yard . . . so three?  Really?

What can you do but sit and wait?  And, take photos of your new hostas. Yes, that is how I decided to balance my yard a little . . . with shade foliage plants.  My yard has sunny spots where the daylilies flourish.  It also had a lot of established trees and, therefore, shade. Those areas just aren’t good for daylily blooms.  So, this year I have found some great online hosta sites and I am trying a few out to see how they do.  I love that the color is permanent, whereas the daylilies bloom for one day.  It seems like yin and yang.  The hot colors of the sun-loving daylilies and the cool colors of the shade-loving hosta.

Before I share my (still very much) baby hosta photos, let’s visit the daylilies.  Since it is red, white, and blue weekend, let’s start with Ruby Spider.  As always, stunning.

RubySpider31.7.2

Then that mystery daylily that is, most likely Primal Scream and not Desert Flame.  Very eye-catching, even in the muted light.

PrimalScreamorDF14.7.2

Lastly, poor little Black Ice who did not want to bloom in the rain.  I had to go out after lunchtime to finally find it fully open for the day.  With a name like Black Ice, you would think it would appreciate the cooler weather.  No, wait, it’s a daylily.

BlackIce27.7.2

OK, so here are my baby hosta plants.  I love the blues, yellows and variegated ones.  The adult plants are much showier.  I can’t wait to see them in a year!  But, starting with roots is economical beyond belief.  And, they can grow into their space in a few years.  Like daylily roots, buying this way means you wait a bit longer.  And, it’s usually worth the wait.

4thofJulyHostaCollage

Tomorrow, it looks like there is a possibility of more blossoms. Maybe even some new faces. And, more sun.  I sure hope so.  My dogs are in hoodies and I want to crawl under my blanket.  Happy 4th of July weekend from the Colorado Plateau.