It’s the Succulent Extravaganza! Amazing tips

Soon: It’s the Succulent Extravaganza at Succulent Gardens Nursery! Fri-Sat, Sept. 28-29, 2018, 8 to 4. Free.

Succulent Gardens nursery in Castroville, CA, hosts the Succulent Extravaganza, one of the largest succulent-themed events, the last Friday and Saturday of September every year. The location is in northern CA near San Francisco, between Santa Cruz and Carmel. This year is the 8th annual. Attending the Succulent Extravaganza is a wonderful opportunity to enrich your knowledge of succulents, view and acquire gorgeous specimens, visit a premier specialty nursery, learn from expert growers and designers, and mingle with fellow succulent enthusiasts.

The Succulent Fanatics, a Facebook group founded by San Jose master gardener Laura Balaoro, host a display table with succulent-themed compositions made by members. It’s a fun gathering place, and everyone’s welcome whether you’re in the group or not. Because it’s international with thousands of members, you never know whom you might meet!

This dish garden on the Succulent Fanatics table, by Danielle Romero, has a sansevieria that emphasizes a lovely red-edged aeonium. Danielle and husband Michael Romero professionally design succulent gardens in the Los Angeles area.

Every year there are new things to see and numerous photo ops…

For example, who could resist having their photo taken within a succulent frame?

Laura Balaoro is known for decorating her hat or visor beautifully with succulents. Discover out how she does it, and get design inspiration. 

This giant succulent heart was the hit of the Succulent Extravaganza several years ago. The event started in 2010, when Robin Stockwell owned the nursery. He has since retired, and new owners Megan and John Rodkin have continued the Extravaganza tradition, with quality plants, displays, ideas and enthusiasm.

Horticulturist-nurseryman Aaron Ryan’s propagation demonstrations typically have standing room only. Impressed by Aaron’s knowledge, I devoted a post to it and have made several YouTube videos.

One year, the succulent globe that nursery founder Robin Stockwell made for the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show was on display. Nothing like it had been done before, and I think you’ll agree it takes vertical gardens to a whole new level. In the foreground, San Diego floral designer Marialuisa Kaprielian demonstrates how to wire succulent rosettes, with Robin and wife Sanne looking on.

Another year, visitors posed in front of a big succulent spiral.

Related info on this site:

Scenes from the Succulent Extravaganza

Make a Succulent Decorated Hat

Videos on my YouTube channel:

Six Designs by Succulent Fanatics

Succulent Extravaganza Highlights

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What to Wear at Succulent Events Amazing tips

Notice how the green of succulent rosettes contrast beautifully with Cathy Leiss’ auburn hair? She’s a little shy (ha).

Wearing succulents at succulent-themed events is a great ice-breaker. Everyone wants a photo of you. The easiest way to attach succulents to a hat brim, visor, hair ornament or bracelet is with the moss-and-glue method pioneered by San Diego garden designer Laura Eubanks, who first used it to attach succulent cuttings to pumpkins. (As seen in Succulents Simplified, pp.150-155.)

I’m wearing a butterfly hair ornament made by Laura Eubanks for a photo shoot. She used tiny sedum rosettes and string-of-pearls.

Here’s how:

1. Assemble your materials: a hot-glue gun, a hat or other wearable, dry moss (from any craft store), and succulent cuttings.
2. Glue moss to the area you’ll cover with cuttings. Like a moss-filled succulent wreath, this gives the cuttings something to root into.
3. Hot-glue cuttings to the moss. Wondering why they don’t cook? So do I! You can’t touch hot glue without getting burned, but cuttings are fine.
4. Cuttings eventually send roots right through the glue into the moss, so treat the hat as you would a topiary or wreath: Store in bright shade and spritz occasionally.

See the video. 

Design inspiration

These are from past events: the Succulent Extravaganza near San Francisco (this year, Sept. 28-29), and the Succulent Celebration near San Diego (coming up April 12-13, 2019):

Laura Balaoro of San Jose, CA, founder of the Succulent Fanatics Facebook group, is known for her succulent chapeaux. In fact, she and I collaborated on an article for a national magazine showing how she does it. Above: Yellow-orange Sedum angelina contrasts with purple echeverias and Sedum ‘Blue Spruce’. Suggesting ribbon is the trailing succulent: variegated rosary vine (Ceropegia woodii ‘Variegata’).

Laura decorates hats to match her colorful outfits.

Above: Laura used bell-shaped cotyledon blooms to add a punch of color to another turquoise hat.

And here, Laura’s sea-themed hat includes a tillandsia, shells and even some sand. Notice her earrings, too.

For a friend’s ball cap, Laura repeated an embroidered poppy’s feathery leaves with Sedum angelina.

Above: I added Aeonum ‘Kiwi’ rosettes to the center of a hat’s bow, echoed the orange in the rosettes with a flower from a dwarf aloe that happened to be in bloom (to go with my jacket), and added string-of-pearls as a cascader. No glue or moss—pins hold everything in place.

Succulent-decorated hats and art-to-wear

Los Angeles landscape designer Shirley Kost-Haskell can be counted on to decorate a hat or visor with succulents, and earrings too. Look for earrings suitable for moss-and-gluing in the jewelry section of Michael’s craft store.

Above: Where lines intersect at the back of Nancy Pedersen’s hat, she placed a red aeonium rosette and surrounded it with smaller cuttings. Btw, try not to touch aeoniums when you design with them—they mar easily, something not evident until the next day (as I explain in a short video, “Aeonium Leaves, What You Need to Know.”)

Above: Lydia Dunaway may have used moss that hangs from trees in the South for her hat…which makes sense, she’s from Florida.

Deana Rae McMillion added dried flowers and fresh succulent blooms for pops of color.

Candy Suter of Roseville near Sacramento does lovely hat-band bouquets. At one event, a fellow attendee asked if she could buy Candy’s hat. Surprised and flattered, she sold it to her.

Carrie Goode from Arizona placed Graptopetalum paraguayense on her hat. This is one succulent that the leaves pop off the stems easily, so working with them takes a delicate touch.

Susan Morse of Vista, CA creates lavish hats. This one features a purple-pink echeveria (E. ‘Perle von Nurnberg’) and ice plant flowers. The flowers close in dim light—which was probably the case when Susan glued them to her hat. Clever of her to know they’d open in full sun!

Here’s Susan again, wearing a succulent-decorated headband.

Succulents stay fresh without water because they have so much moisture in their leaves. The downside is that makes them heavy, but Jen Golden of Brisbane, CA, is smiling regardless. Notice her succulent pendant, too.

Designer Katie Christensen glued tiny succulent rosettes, flowers and shells to a hair clip.

Katie taught a class at Weidner’s Gardens on succulent art-to-wear. This is a bracelet from the class. Find the DIY on my YouTube channel: “Fashion Wearable Succulents for Weddings, Gifts and Garden Events.” 

I’m not suggesting you take the time and trouble to make a succulent lei, but I just had to show you this one, a gift from the Honolulu Garden Club.

Guess what? String-of-pearls makes a miserable necklace. Those little spherical leaves each have a little point that’ll irritate your skin. After this selfie, I was happy to take it off.

Fabulous fakes

The downside to using fresh floral material—even succulents—is that they don’t last forever. If you get a couple of weeks out of them, you’re doing good. It’s not that they wither and die, but rather that they get leggy. New growth elongates the rosette, and lower leaves dry and fall off. Cuttings can be salvaged (even reused), but you’ll need to pull them off the decorated object and start over.

So instead, why not use fake succulents?

Plastic string-of-pearls are available online for around $10. 

For a recent Succulent Celebration, I fashioned succulents out of Sculpey clay and hot-glued them to my visor. No moss needed, and they’ll likely last the life of the hat. Watch the video: DIY Sculpey Succulent: Striped Agave (3:15).

I glued faux rosettes to a headband too. But when the plastic flexed, a couple of them popped off.

I also glued them to succulent crowns for selfies. This is Hannah Eubanks, Laura E’s daughter. Both will be at Succulent Extravaganza 2018. I have no idea what they’ll wear. Regardless, be sure to greet them and other clever succulent fashionistas you see.

I’ve yet to see a succulent buckle, nose ring, belt, or bunny ears. Maybe you’ll be the first? Send me photos!

 

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Agaves Handle Summer Heat Amazing tips

Late summer is when tough succulents really shine. Large agaves handle summer heat, and are unfazed by harsh sun, high temps and lack of rain. Their statuesque, fountainlike forms lend a sculptural element to any landscape, and contrast beautifully with fine-textured ornamentals. They also make good firebreak plants and security fences.

With the exception of a few soft-leaved and variegated varieties, agaves want sun—the more the better in all but desert climates. Most are hardy to the mid- to high-20s F, and some go a lot lower.

Sharp points at leaf tips and along leaf edges can make agaves treacherous. I snip about a quarter inch from leaves’ needlelike tips with garden shears.

Agaves smaller than basketballs make excellent potted plants. Small agaves—there are many exquisite ones—look good displayed one to a pot.

Agaves with serpentine terminal spines and prominent teeth along leaf margins are both graceful and fierce. Don’t they remind you of how cats yawn and show their fangs?

Scalloped patterns on an agave’s leaves (“bud imprints”) are caused by spines and teeth pressing into the flesh of inner leaves before they unfurl. Aren’t they fascinating?

When pruning a damaged leaf, keep in mind that a straight-across cut at its midsection may spoil an agave’s symmetry. It’s best to make two cuts that trim the leaf to a “V” that resembles the leaf’s natural tip. Or cut it all the way to the trunk.

One of the most common agaves, A. attenuata (foxtail agave) has soft, smooth, nonspiny leaves that are prone to sun scorch in summer and frost burn in winter. Damaged tips will collapse and turn white. If this has happened to yours, watch my short video on how to trim them.

Large agaves that pup (not all do) can be thugs. They’ll grow and spread rapidly, especially when given good soil and regular irrigation. One of the most widely grown is A. americana (century plant), because it offsets so prolifically (free plants!) and needs no care at all…until those pups start to get big and form an unruly, ever-expanding colony.

Because it seems that everyone is blithely planting Agave americana these days, agave expert Kelly Griffin and I made a video that gives better choices for the long run: Six Great Agaves for Your Garden. It’s the sequel to What You MUST Know About Century Plants (Agave americana).

Being indigenous to the New World (the American Southwest, Mexico and Central America), larger agaves store enough moisture to get by on rainfall alone and will thrive in nutrient-poor soils. Although agaves like water, their roots—like those of most succulents—will rot in waterlogged soil.

All but a few agaves are monocarpic, meaning they bloom once and then die. This may take as many as 25 years, but it will happen. As it completes its life cycle, a mature rosette that has graced a garden for years sends up an asparagus-like flower stalk (most, but not all, branch). This dwarfs the plant and saps its energy. Flowers along the stalk eventually turn into miniplants (bulbils) or seed capsules.

Only the individual agave that flowers dies. In some cases—notably with those involving Agave americana—a litter of pups will carry on.

The above is edited from the intro to Agaves in “Succulents A to Z” in Designing with Succulents (2nd ed.). The book, which also covers Aloes among 30 important genera of succulents, includes photos and descriptions of significant varieties, and shows how to grow and use them beautifully in gardens and landscapes.

Also see Succulents Simplified, pp. 177-184;  this site’s Agave page; and my YouTube channel‘s Agave playlist.

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How to Grow Succulents by Season and Region Amazing tips

How to grow succulents by season and region

Where you live and the time of year make a big difference in terms of how well your succulents grow and perform, and even which kinds you should choose—especially if you’re growing them outdoors. Indoors, you have much more control over the environment, but seasons still affect cyclical aspects of growth such as flowering and dormancy.

This page is a launching point, so scroll down to see which source best meets your needs.

Also refer to “Seasonal Care for Succulents” on pages 74-75 of my book, Succulents Simplified.

Spring

Spring in my Succulent Garden: Flowers Wow with Bold, Hot Hues

My spring garden’s most vivid blooms are those of succulent ice plants.

Aloes, bulbine and numerous arid-climate companions are bright and beautiful from March through… [Continue reading]

On my YouTube channel:  Debra Lee Baldwin’s Succulent Garden in Spring.

Summer

Summer Care for Succulents: Heat and Sun Concerns

How to Water Succulents in Summer

On my YouTube channel, see: Succulents, Sun and Summer (10:34)

Autumn

Frost and Succulents: What You Need to Know

Winter

Cold Weather Care for Garden Succulents

Region: Bay Area

How to Grow Succulents in San Francisco (Bay Area) Gardens

Region: Coastal Southern California

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Succulents for Northerly Climates

50 Cold-Hardy Succulents for Northern Climates

How to Grow Tender Succulents in Cold, Northerly Climates

Designing with Cold-Climate Succulents

Showy Succulents for Snowy Climates (Debra’s WSJ Article)

On my YouTube channel:

— Growing Succulents in Northerly Climates, Sempervivums  Part One of my presentation at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Gorgeous new cultivars and design ideas.

— Growing Succulents in Northerly Climates: Sedums and More Part Two of my presentation at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. More cool succulents for cold climates plus how to select, grow and design with them.

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Supermarket Kalanchoes: Succulents Grown for Their Flowers Amazing tips

Supermarket kalanchoes (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) are succulents grown mainly for their flowers. They have been hybridized and sold as flowering plants long before succulents in general became popular.

Succulents are plants that look like flowers, and although all succulents produce them, they’re generally not the reason people buy them. Yet one succulent, the supermarket kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana), has been commercially grown—and sold—for its bright, cheery blooms for decades.

Because Kalanchoe blossfeldiana produces bouquet-like clusters several times a year, and tolerates conditions that would kill most nonsucculent plants, it has great commercial value. Hybrids come in every warm hue as well as shades of cream, white and multicolored blends.

A variety known as calandiva has ruffled petals. Each dime-sized calandiva floret resembles a tiny chrysanthemum.

For an eye-popping floral display, tuck several supermarket kalanchoes into a window box or flower bed.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana plays well with other succulents, adding bright pops of color for weeks at a time.

And when you combine several of the same kind in one pot, you’ll get what looks like one big, lush, amazingly colorful plant.

For best results:
— As with most succulents, supermarket kalanchoes want good air circulation, three or four hours of bright but not hot sun daily (morning sun is best), protection from frost and extreme heat, and soil that’s moist but not soggy.
— Deadhead spent blooms and let the plants rest until the next round. If these succulents have a downside, it’s that they’ll bloom themselves to the point of exhaustion. With TLC they’ll recover.
— Deadhead spent flowers. This seems obvious, but the plants are repeat bloomers. They’ll perform better and look best with old flowers out of the way.

–Use with rosette succulents to create floral-style compositions. Supermarket kalanchoes with cream or pastel blooms look especially good with rose, pink and/or teal echeverias.
– If, after successive bloom cycles, the plants go downhill, take cuttings if you want the same color again, or simply discard the plants. Replacements are easy to come by.

Sources: If you’re in the San Diego area, Weidner’s Gardens nursery in Encinitas is one of the top growers of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana hybrids, and their plants are perfection. Otherwise, you can usually find Kalanchoe blossfeldiana in the garden section of big box stores…and of course, in supermarkets.

Related info on this site:

About Succulents, an Overview
This is the perfect place to start if you’re uncertain about succulents: Debra’s dozen favorites, all hand-selected for skittish beginners. These easy-grow varieties are… [Continue reading] 
How to grow, care for, and create more succulents.
True, succulents are the easiest plants on the planet, but like all living things, the more you know about them, the higher your success rate and the fewer worries you’ll have. Here are the basics for [Continue reading]

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