Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Growing and propagating succulents

Growing succulents is so easy you can go from small plants
and cuttings to a lush garden in just a few months.

This is five months of growth in full sun.
Succulent gardens add interest to ordinary landscapes.
Because they look exotic, you might think succulents are difficult - to plant and care for.

In reality, they are some of the easiest plants to grow. They thrive in conditions other plants would consider neglect. The key to a successful succulent garden lies in the right kind of soil and light.
Once you master their basic needs, occasional watering is all you need to keep your succulents happy.

Setting yourself up for success:

    1. Choose a location for your garden that gets full sun to partial shade.
    2. Prepare the outdoor garden's existing soil by removing the grass and weeds and breaking it up with a shovel.
    3. Create a fast-draining, succulent-friendly soil by combining equal parts coarse material, such as gravel or pumice, and either the existing garden soil or amend with cactus mix.
    4. It’s important to plan the placement of your succulents. Place them close together if you want a garden that's immediately full. Space them up to 12 inches apart if you'd like to give the plants an opportunity to grow and spread out.  
    5. Wait up to a full week before you water to allow the roots to recover from any possible transplant damage.
    6. Ongoing water and maintenence needs are discussed later in this presentation.

For me, one of the more enjoyable aspects of growing succulents is their propagation.  


  1. Cutting propagation.  One of the most simple techniques of propagation.  These plants were grown from cuttings used in my wedding bouquet. You simply cut and plant immediately in soil.  You don’t have to let them heal over if you don’t water for a few days.
  2. Plantlet propagtion. These plants are  vi·vip·a·rous: Which means they reproduce from buds that form plantlets while still attached to the parent plant.  To root, place plantlets on top of soil in small pots.
    Once established this particular Kalanchoe can become invasive
    if not watched and maintained.  But it is a great plant to fill in on slopes
    and large open spaces providing lots of color.

  3. Offset propagation - Numerous glob-ular cacti and leaf succulents (Agave, Aloe, Haworthia) form numerous offsets or pups, which can be planted if rooted. If unrooted, root in pumice.
  4. Seed propagation - Most cacti and succulents can be raised from seed.
    As home gardeners you may not want the huge quantities of seedlings but seed propagation is frequently used by commercial growers.

  5. Grafting - is done for various reasons.  The most common you see is Cacti that lack chlorophyll — like the "Red Cap” this brightly colored plant results from grafting two different species of cactus together.
  6. Leaf propagation - This is an example of a leaf that propagated when itdropped off the plant - even without soil.  See how the new plant is forming right at the end of the leaf?  No, that is not my finger...haha



At first you don't even have to put them in dirt.  Just collect them
and keep them out of the sun in a cool dry place.

Once you see roots or a bud you can just lay them on top of some soil. Regular cactus mix works best.  


I lay them flat because that is what happens in nature. Then I pretty much leave them alone. Once in awhile a splash some water on them when I think of it. But, these haven't had any for at least 2-3 weekes. Now that these have really taken off I might mist them.  

I also put a bunch of leaves on top of the soil in every pot I have growing in my propagation nursery. DON'T touch the leaf until it shrivels up and comes off. Don't try to remove the dead leaf. Just let nature take its course.


Once the new bud starts to form it uses the nutrients from the leaf as it grows.  Eventually the leaf shrivels up and roots take hold as it keeps growing.
Some of my successes:


My succulent cuttings nursery.  It's so great to go shopping in your own yard.
Echeveria 'Topsy turvy'
Various leaves that have grown into tiny plants!
All of these were cuttings that grew up.

All grown up.  From one tiny cutting I have had dozens of plants flurish.

This is a small pocket garden that I put in my front yard.  All of these plants were grown from cuttings as are most of my succulents.  

When this was written I still had a lawn. This pocket garden was installed as a test garden to learn what plants do well in this location.  

UPDATE - see my full lawn removal and updated front yard garden on my blog post:  My Big Fat Garden Makeover
Front yard pocket garden
Thank you for visiting my blog.  Please leave a comment and share your propagation successes!  Subscribe to my blog for more great information and DIY projects.

Sources:
Propagation of Cacti and Succulents:

Techniques for cactus and succulent propagation include the following: Cuttings,  Bulbils and Plantlets Offsets,  Seeds,  Grafting





Care for Ball Jar Succulent Containers

Congratulations on the purchase of this lovely container planted with succulents.  Handmade with love for you in Carpinteria, CA.



Care: 
Succulents like bright indirect light.  Because this jar does not have a drainage hole, it is very easy to over water and kill your succulents.  Succulents can survive with little water.  If you have a moisture meter, check the soil before you water.  Make sure to measure the water in a separate container first.  It probably only needs 1/4 cup of water every month.  If you have it outside and it gets full sun then water 1/4 cup every 2 weeks.  It will let you know when it needs water.  If the leaves look a little shriveled give it a 1/4 cup of water.

Handmade with love:
Each jar is lovingly hand painted with 2-3 coats of paint and sealed with varnish.  Some are faux painted and all are made to look worn and old.  Truly shabby chic!

The paint should hold up well if the jars don't get too wet.  If the plants outgrow this jar they can be cut back and repotted.  Read my blog post about growing and propagation: Growing and propagation of succulents

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. 

Warmly, Deana Rae
Deana Rae Designs     

deanarae@deanarae.com 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Photos from my garden today!!!


It's not huge, but I sure LovE my garden!

To celebrate my new Facebook page I took some photos in my garden!!!  Yes, I did it!  How cool is that?  Hope you can visit and like and share my page:

Logo by Meganne Forbes

Here are the photos, hope you enjoy
Blooms, buds and beauty!!!

Echeveria 'Morning Light'

New growth on my Schlumbergera cuttings just planted less than a week ago.

Classic beauty - Aeonium canariensis “Giant Velvet Rose”

The glow of Aloe maculata

Lamb's ears - first bloom

California Poppy

Bees love my garden

Yarrow flowers reach for the sun

A lot of Aloe flowers look similar. This one is from Aloe 'Moondance'

This Tiger Aloe shoot fights to survive after the mother plant expired.

Now I know why they call this "Goldfish Plant"

Kakanchoe delagoensis - Chandelier Plant, Mother of Thousands

Cotyledon orbiculata flower

This bud reaches up to the sun from its colorful bed.

Ruffled Hybrid Echeveria - first bud

Potato Vine Flowers

Airplants (tillandsia) flower bud - shoot, lost the tag

Echerevia 'Topsy turvy" flower bud

Fushia flowers

What is in your garden?  



Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Succulent wreath

How to make a succulent wreath arrangement!



Seriously can't belive this is the first one I've ever made.  Having a background as a floral designer, wreath making is certainly not new to me.  I have probably made 1000 wreaths over the years.  But, they were mostly of silk and dried materials.  I made a few with fresh flowers but never with my beloved succulents.  

For the past two years in the fall I've made succulent topped pumpkins (photo below) with this same technique, and have seen how long the succulents last. I think the wreath will stay looking good for at least a year based on my experience with the succulent pumpkins.  I plan to mist the moss at least once a week to see how that helps it last.  I've read other blogs from experts, and that's what they do!

Here is a wonderful video produced by succulent guru Debra Baldwin, featuring the fanaical Katie Christensen of Waterwise Botanicals Nursery, that may help you visualize the process: How to Plant a Cold-Hardy Succulent Wreath.  Of course her video shows using a moss wreath, but you can choose what ever base you want.  Another difference is that she uses moss pins and cold glue, so if you don't have a glue gun this gives you another option.

The succulents will root in the moss and won't die.  They can later be removed and planted, or just refresh the wreath but cutting them back and re-gluing them in.

Here are a two projects I have created with this technique just to show you other options for fun with succulents:
Succulent pumpkins made with hot glue and moss

Succulent and dried arrangement made with hot glue and moss.
The succulents in this arrangement were never watered, save the humidity received from the air, while sitting outside for 9 months.  Both photos below were taken to show how the succulents are still growing and alive:






Saturday, April 12, 2014


Planting a Window Box - step by step

Succulents and a variety of perennials add color & interest. This planter gets full afteroon sun.
Step one was finding this amazing vintage planter. I have been looking for one for a long time. Every time I would find one they were way too expensive. I happened upon this one at Flora nursery in Ojai. I was thrilled when the clerk told me it was only $50.


Vintage window planter
Next step was getting it mounted. I had my friendly neighborhood handy man fix it up for me and he had to use some very long screws. He added a washer on top of the mounting loop so it wouldn't slip off.

Now to get it filled.  I went with the coco liner.  I thought I wanted to use sheet moss, but it was $14 a foot (36" wide).  The coco liner was only $3.99 a foot (36" wide).  I bought two 12" x 36" sheets.  I'm so glad I chose the coco liner. It looks great!

Coco liner looks neat and tidy and won't break down.


Next I added a layer of chicken wire to make it strong.  Luckily the planter has several nice strong bars along the bottom, but I always like to use chicken wire to make sure there is no sagging.  

I had this chicken wire, but if I were going to buy some I would get the 1/2 in hex mesh.

Hummmmm, what I didn't account for was how to protect and cover the back. Guess I should have had the coco liner cut wider. Well, what now?  You know how it is when you are working on a project...you need to keep going.  Ahhh, I know what to do.  Plastic to the rescue!  I used the car protection sheet they give you at the nursery.  It is much stronger than garbage bags.

Adding plastic was a great solution.

I used my drafting ruler to tuck the plastic securely over the top.  It was a tight fit, so I'm glad I had something so thin to use.  Next I put down a layer of window screen.  You can buy it by the foot at your local lumber or home improvement store.  It works great to help keep the soil from seeping through the coco liner.

Window screen liner.

I cut it to fit and then to make sure it stayed secure, I wired the screen and the plasticall along the top of the back about every 5-6 inches. 

Secured to the top with wire.

I also made sure to secure it at the corners and one in the middle where the two lengths of coco liner and screen overlapped.  

It takes time to get it prepared correctly. 

Now for the flowers!  I bought sweet potato vines and several other plants and succulents that will trail down over time.  I love succulents, but I wanted other textures and colors including a few flowers plants.  

Love my vintage Radio Flyer for moving plants and soil around my yard.
Many of these plants were already in my personal nursery but I did spend about $60 on new plants and succulents.  I use organic cactus and succulent mix and I added some organic ammend and also added extra pumice.  I put a 2 inch layer of soil along the bottom of the planter.  In placing the plants I started with the three focal plants, the yellow daisy, the Dusty Miller and the Echeveria and placed then in the middle and worked out from there.

Start in the center and build out from there.
It was fun to add plants and cuttings that friends and family had given me plus many that I had grown from cuttings.  And of course all my new plants!  One by one it really came together fast.  

Up close - left side
Up close - center
Up close - right side
This is mounted on the side of a shed in our back yard that serves as my art studio.  It is a welcome addition to our yard and will be a great thing to see when we look out our family room window.  I look forward to watching it grow.

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