See Hannah’s Award-Winning County Fair Garden Amazing tips

Hannah Eubanks, 25, of Design for Serenity (she's Laura Eubanks’ daughter and protégé), undertook a herculean task: creating a 1,750-square-foot succulent display for the Del Mar Fair Flower Show. Hannah transformed ten motor-home-sized parking places (two adjoining exhibit spaces) into an immense, eye-catching, award-winning garden.

Before: This parking area was what Hannah tackled less than a week before opening day. Shade cloth had yet to conceal buildings at right or be installed overhead. Yep, that's it.

Where's the exhibit LOCATED?

When you enter the Fairgrounds go left to enter the Flower Show. Find Hannah's exhibit on the west side facing the east end of the Bing Crosby Hall, adjacent to the SW corner of O'Brien Hall. The Del Mar Fair website gives hours, admission, parking info and more. San Diego County's summer Fair, which averages 1.5 million visitors annually, runs through July 4.

"So many awards!"

The energy at this year's Flower Show award ceremony was palpable as Hannah, her sister Alex and friends awaited results. Over the course of the evening, Hannah, on behalf of exhibit sponsor Grangetto's, won five awards! Fellow designers---now like family---gave a delighted Hannah hugs, high-fives and happy whoops. Parents Laura and Greg Eubanks, away in Northern CA, watched proudly via Alex's texts.

Hannah shows an award the exhibit received from the American Horticultural Society.

What Hannah accomplished

To understand and appreciate the scope of what San Diego's youngest and brightest succulent designer managed to pull off, consider that Hannah…

• did it all on her own during six 10-hour days
• had only occasional hand’s-on help
• moved boulders (ten tons worth, some bathtub-sized) with a rock dolly
• moved dozens of barrel cacti, many weighing more than she does
• coordinated all materials---much of it donated---with nurseries and suppliers
• was given free reign by sponsor Kevin Grangetto of Grangetto’s Farm and Garden Supply
• was invariably cheerful, bubbly, friendly, hardworking and professional (but that’s Hannah).

Bleached and twisted driftwood sourced at Waterwise Botanicals suggests a desert tree's skeleton. From a design standpoint it's in scale with the space, offers contrast of form and a sense of motion, and draws the eye upward.

Links and credits: Who did what

When you support these outstanding businesses, it's a win-win for both you and them.

• Sponsor: Grangetto's Farm and Garden Supply (more about Grangetto's below)
• Design by: Hannah Eubanks of Design for Serenity, her parents' succulent landscape company
• Succulent nurseries: Sun Valley (wholesale), Waterwise Botanicals
• Driftwood: Waterwise Botanicals
• Rock and flagstone pavers: KRC 
• Lighting: Hunter Industries FX Luminaire 
• Pots and Talavera accents: Planter Paradise, El Cajon
• Raised vegetable beds, trellis, annual flowers: Grangetto's

Details of the display

Don't miss hearing Hannah explain how she handled all this. It's astonishing.

• • Square footage: 1,750
  • Boulders: 10 tons
  • Gravel topdressing: 6 yards
  • Soil: 10 yards

Raised beds (upper right) are among garden accessories sold at Grangetto's. Pots and a Talavera orb are from Planter Paradise in El Cajon. Crushed rock topdressing from KRC is "chamois beige."

About the sponsor: Grangetto's Farm & Garden Supply

The aim of Grangetto's first-ever Del Mar Flower Show exhibit is to make homeowners more aware that the company welcomes and serves residential customers. “Seventy percent of our business is now retail,” says owner Kevin Grangetto. When his father founded it in 1952, the business was primarily an agricultural supplier.

Hannah Eubanks and Kevin Grangetto appeared on KUSI News the day the Fair opened.

A name long respected in San Diego's farm and gardening communities, Grangetto's has locations in Encinitas, Escondido, Valley Center and Fallbrook. I can attest that the staff is friendly and helpful. For over 30 years, I've asked questions and bought supplies at Grangetto’s, just as my dad did long ago for the avocado ranch I grew up on.

After the award ceremony, Kevin told a reporter with KUSI-TV News that Grangetto's offers “everything you need to grow plants: irrigation, fertilizer, tools and more. Everything but the plants, literally." Not surprisingly, Grangetto's has a symbiotic relationship with nurseries, which---as Kevin noted--- "Hannah sourced to create a beautiful display.”

 Watch Kevin and Hannah's KUSI interview.

Related Info on This Site

How Succulent Designer Laura Eubanks Does It

Succulent designer Laura Eubanks of Design for Serenity is no stranger to crises. The challenges she’s had to overcome—including a horrific childhood—have given her wisdom, compassion and a keen desire to mentor and inspire others. Due to an unfortunate turn of events, she’s now the one in need of help..

Read More

Hannah’s Stunning Succulent Reef

Hannah Eubanks, 24, shows us a stunning succulent reef garden she created for a client in Vista, CA. The youngest of three daughters of celebrity landscaper Laura Eubanks, Hannah expedited the project start-to-finish. “My mom was totally hand’s-off,” she says proudly.

Read More

Succulent Landscapes

Succulent Landscapes Design ideas and must-dos for your yard’s transformation Want to transform your yard into a low-maintenance, low-water succulent garden? This page guides you to helpful info on this site and on my YouTube channel. Before you purchase plants or pick up a shovel, do obtain my book Designing with Succulents (2nd ed). It’s mainly about…

Read More

The post See Hannah’s Award-Winning County Fair Garden appeared first on Debra Lee Baldwin. Copyright © Debra Lee Baldwin.

from Debra Lee Baldwin https://ift.tt/ZuLYX2I
via IFTTT

Should You Water Aeoniums in Summer? Amazing tips

Conventional seasonal care advice for aeoniums is to "withhold summer water," info I've routinely passed along. But it's always bothered me. My own experience and observations indicate otherwise.

For over 20 years, I've cultivated a dozen or more types of Aeonium in my garden NE of San Diego. It's Zone 9b---dry inland foothills with a slight maritime influence. Summer rainfall is seldom and temps soar into the triple digits from late-August through mid-September.

Above: Aeoniums thrive in dappled shade in my garden. Center: A. urbicum. In back: A. 'Sunburst'. Far right: dark A. 'Zwartkop' and below it, A. 'Kiwi'.  Variegates can be susceptible to sunburn. Darker aeoniums fare best; more pigment = better sun protection. Learn more on my Aeonium page.

 

The genus Aeonium is native to the Canary Islands off northwestern Africa, where the climate is among the best in the world. Temps are mild year-round and days sunny. Rain is minimal and falls December through February. If that sounds familiar, it should: It's similar to coastal CA from the Bay Area south.

It seems counterintuitive, but...

Aeoniums don’t do well in other "ideal" US climates like Hawaii and Florida. The reason is those regions' heavy summer rains and humidity. If aeoniums sit in soaked soil and and stay damp, stems and roots rot---especially if the plants are dormant.

However in CA, where rain falls mainly in winter and humidity is low, rot is unlikely even after drenching winter rains.

When you should do something

Did you lose your aeoniums to rot? Need to refresh existing specimens? See how to take cuttings from firm, healthy top growth and start them in my video "How to Plant or Redo an Overgrown Succulent Garden." 

I lazily leave aeoniums alone unless I want to snip cuttings or to redo an overgrown bed (every 3-4 years).

What does kill aeoniums

Seems the only thing that kills these super-easy succulents is flowering. After individual rosettes elongate into bloom, they'll die (i.e. they're “monocarpic.”)

Not all rosettes in a colony bloom at once, and it takes years for most aeonium rosettes to flower. Enjoy the show, then cut the stalks where they join the trunk.

True, aeoniums that get no water look like they're at death’s door by September…which is when my neighbors’ gardener yanks theirs. Oh, if he'd only wait! Aeoniums that appear moribund will bounce back in a few months!

The bottom line

The conclusion I've come to is that if you're in CA, you can choose whether or not to water your aeoniums. Those of mine that get irrigated along with everything else look fine all summer. I don't water those that have gone dormant.

But how to tell if an aeonium is dormant?

If you're wondering how to tell if an aeonium has gone dormant, because you're worried you'll overwater it, no worries. It's a non-issue. Growth does slow after the spring spurt, but you can safely assume that aeoniums that are getting regular water and look healthy are perfectly fine.

As for my no-water ones---those beyond the irrigation system---they begin losing their sheen in July. By end-August, leaves have shriveled, and rosettes resemble closed purses. This smart, moisture-saving tactic reveals naked stems, which make plants look truly sad.

My Aeonium haworthii in September, after six months with no water.

The same aeonium in the spring, after winter storms. This drought-then-flourish cycle happens every year, and the plant keeps getting bigger.

What if you do water them?

So, should you water ratty, sleeping aeoniums in summer? Sure, if you want to. They might not look better afterwards, but it could help keep small, heat-stressed specimens alive---especially those out in the open that are baking in dry, shallow soil. In any case, if they don't sit in water for days, it won't harm them.

And if you don't? Roots may desiccate, but if they still anchor the plant, it'll regenerate new roots during winter rains.

If the roots of a neglected aeonium like this one haven't dried completely, some summer watering will likely hydrate them. But please don't stress over how to tell. It's fine to let sleeping aeoniums lie. 

Debra's Seasonal summary for Aeoniums

Note that these changes don't happen overnight. They're so subtle, you may not notice until they're well underway.

In Southern and Coastal CA:

• SUMMER: July-September. Aeoniums begin going dormant as the weather warms. Those that receive no summer irrigation are completely (and clearly) dormant by late-summer heat waves.
• FALL: October-December. Aeoniums begin to awaken as days shorten, temperatures drop and rains return. Now into mid-winter is the best time to take and start cuttings.
• WINTER: December-February. Growing season; aeoniums look better and better. Roots in rain-soaked spread in preparation for fueling spring top growth. Cuttings started in fall root quickly.
• SPRING: March-June. Few succulents are so lush and lovely as rain-revived aeoniums. Spring is when they flower, so do enjoy the show. Deadhead spent blooms to keep the plants tidy.

Aeonium Uses, Photos, IDs, Varieties

Aeonium Uses, Photos and Varieties Native to the Canary Islands and Morocco, aeoniums thrive outdoors in zone 9 (and higher if in dappled shade). Prune and replant in autumn. See All Succulent Types Aeonium Agaves Aloes Cactus Crassula Echeveria Euphorbias Ice Plants Kalanchoe Portulacaria Senecio About Aeoniums Aeonium rosettes resemble big, fleshy-petalled daisies. Colors include green,…

Read More

The post Should You Water Aeoniums in Summer? appeared first on Debra Lee Baldwin. Copyright © Debra Lee Baldwin.

from Debra Lee Baldwin https://ift.tt/U98BTJ3
via IFTTT