Summer-time is Echeveria time

I’ve been absent from the world, lost in the beauty of my sunny front yard garden. Too much work, a whole lot of plants, and life goes on. And the Echeverias (E. elegans) are flowering! A sure sign of mid-summer and lots of rain.

Cycad up-date (Cycas revoluta)

It has been just 6 weeks since I posted pics of my cycad flushing after I had been terribly worried that he might be dying, and look at him now! He seems to have almost doubled in size and is looking very lush and tropical!

My Cycas revoluta 6 weeks ago

Enjoying some mid-day shade

Don't the leaves just look beautiful and healthy?!

We've had tons of rain, 10-20mm just about every day and the garden is really loving it. The Hydrangea bushes are covered in flower heads, some as large as a dinner plate! Hydrangeas are not something I'll plant in my garden again any time soon - in the summer heat the water just disappears into our deep top soil, leaving me having to water them just about every day in summer, thank heavens for the past bounty of rain!

Hooray! My Cycad is flushing!

In April this year (2016), I was worried about my Cycad (Cycas revoluta (Sago Palm), afraid that it was dying because all the leaves started lying down flat. I got a lovely comment from "A" at that post, saying,

"Hi Maree, I'm quite confident that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your cycas. It is quite common for them to skip a season without flushing, sometimes stress related, but I doubt this is the cause. With cycas you can almost always tell if something is wrong by looking at the colour of the leaves - like if there was a mineral shortage they would turn yellowish or show signs of burns at the tips of the leaves the most common problem and cause of death with them is root-rot, this can also be picked up by looking at the leaves - the base of the leaves becomes a darkish rot-like brown, which progresses towards the tip of the leaves as the root rot becomes worse and goes untreated. Just as a side note - you won't be able to see changes in the current set of leave if you try and correct the condition by adding compost or whatever, it will only show in the new set.

But with yours, I suspect the answer might relate to the age of your plant - as the plant gets older the flush gets larger and preparing for the larger flush takes more time and nutrients. So I think it would be safe to say that you can expect a nice large one before December this year. You can also try feeding it with Seagrow or just a healthy dose of compost from your heap and watch it prosper."

And now, here's the wonderful proof of this!

I am absolutely thrilled that he is OK! I've been spending the winter worrying about him and talking to him, and at the end of winter I did give him a good dose of compost.

So, a big thank you "A", for setting my mind at ease and also for the wonderful information you imparted, very grateful for that!

The succulent grows in symmetry

The succulent grows in symmetry,

Budding as a flower,

Reaching for moisture,

And sunlight every hour,

She waits in peace for loving,

Someone to grow beside,

Hopeful in the waiting,

With no shade to hide behind,

But then, a plant is placed by her,

A quiet friend to greet,

So, now they'll grow in harmony,

Until their purpose is complete.

::

Reasons Succulents Are The Best Plants Ever!

They are low maintenance

they come in all kinds of colours

They're fat and happy

They like hanging out!

They can live in teacups or anywhere else

they regularly have babies

You can use their cuttings to make more succulents

::

One for Monday

koi swim in the pond
riot of colour swirling
a day in the garden

A week of gardening ideas

It's Spring! and time for cleaning out, re-organising, re-vamping and generally just getting inspired! Many of my succulents are now starting to outgrow their pots and the time has come for me to start a new succulent garden (if I can find a sunny enough spot!), so I scoured the internet for some ideas.

Pic from Palmbob

My Echeveria harmsii have been growing beautifully in their respective pots and getting a bit pot-bound, so this seems like a lovely idea to put them in the garden - I can already see them thriving and spreading!

Pic from internet

Or perhaps some of them can go into bigger, more exciting pots.

Pic from a magazine

A re-vamp of my garden path or a new path, surrounded by succulents, is also in order!

Pic from internet

A nice idea for transplanting my Aloe cooperi (Grass Aloe) amongst some rocks (the pic is Aloe verecunda)

Pic from internet

I've got some Echinopsis cacti in the garden that are not looking too well after the winter (they don't like frost) so I'll get a nice pot for them where I can keep them on the patio and tend to them until they're in perfect condition again.

Pic from internet

A sunny, north-facing wall will be ideal to display some of my bigger specimens.

Pic from internet

Echeverias planted en masse always look good!

Pic from Pinterest

A lovely idea for displaying some Echeverias and I DO have a chair similar to this!

Pic from a magazine

My little corner similar to this has succumbed to my girls' constant scratching, so time to transplant the Echeverias and add new pebbles

Pic from Pinterest

This seemed like a lovely idea for against a sunny wall, until I started worrying about all the work of maintaining and watering them!

Pic from the internet

A beautifully laid out succulent garden! Something to strive for! (Image Willem Van Greunen in 'MinWater' group on FaceBook)

Pic from Pinterest

I just love palettes! A beautiful idea for a lounge or dining room, except I haven't got any big windows like this...

The Aloe Farm's display on their side-walk (you'll find them on FaceBook)

I apologise that I don't have links for all the images, but I forgot to copy it and can't find any of them now! So if you find your picture here, please feel free to contact me! Smile!

So, armed with lots of inspiration, there's no excuse for my garden not looking beautiful this summer!