October 2020 – Verdant Garden

Succulents

Posted on October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 by capentalc

I never used to like succulents because I always associated them with spiky cactus plants. They are in the same category of low maintenance, low water, and heat tolerant plants…so I thought they are all the same. One day, I saw my mom had these beautiful Aeonium Sunbursts in her front yard and I am forever sold on its beauty.

Succulents come in all shapes and sizes but my favorite varieties are ones that resemble flower shapes! Succulents are so easy reproduce. Just pinch off a leaf or branch, let it dry out for a few days, put it in cactus potting mix and DON’T water for at least a few weeks until they sprout roots. They like to be watered once a week and morning sun/afternoon shade after that.

These pretty rosette-looking cuties are one of the Aeonium Kiwis. They are green when they don’t get enough sunlight but when it is in the sun, it turns into this color above, with hints of yellow and red. They can be more vibrantly red and yellow too depending on how much time they spend in the sun. So beautiful! Truly one of God’s magnificent creations!

One of my other favorite succulents are in the “Hens and Chicks” collection. I think it is such a ridiculous name but once I saw them sprout babies, I realized why they are called that. In the picture below, a couple of them already sprouted babies on the side. They all do that later in the year and I separated them into pots and gave some to friends.

In general, I love succulents because they are very colorful and easy to care for. My hopes for my garden in the future is to have a rock garden designated for my succulents where they get the right amount of light and water each day. As always, I’d like to leave you with my favorite succulent: Aeonium Sunburst.

Chrysanthemums

Posted on October 17, 2020 by capentalc

I love this time of the year when chrysanthemums really take off. I have a few varieties of chrysanthemums that are not the standard varieties which are the yellow and white chrysanthemums. I never liked these flowers before because I was never around them enough to see mature plants produced abundant flowers. One year I planted some yellow ones because I heard they have low water needs and are heat tolerant. The second and third years I have seen stunning, prolific blooms. I really love them and plan to fill my garden with a lot more.

These dark purplish red chrysanthemums are in the second year of blooms. They are about 3 feet tall. Last year they were about 12 inches tall and the colors were a much lighter pink. A few days after flowering, they turn into a salmon pink color, which I love. But I have to snip them off to encourage the other buds to fully bloom.

Here they are with my other deep purple chrysanthemums.

These chrysanthemums are also very pretty, they are a darker colors like this when it first bloom but after a few days in the sun, the outer petals turn into a mustard yellow. This one hasn’t expanded as well as the others, I think the soil where this one is located needs more cultivation.

Something else that I’ve been meaning to share is one of my cosmos plant from previous post, which I thought was never going to bloom, suddenly had a grand bloomfest! See them below.

Another wonderful plant I just acquired is the At Last rose bush. It has such beautiful, peachy-yellow blooms. I am in love! I will propagate these to have more plants. See if they make you smile too.

Now, I will leave you with one of these pretty chrysanthemums to ponder.

Daylilies

Posted on October 4, 2020October 4, 2020 by capentalc

Daylilies are one of the prettiest, most extravagant flowers I have ever seen. I would love to grow a whole field full of them. The colors are bright, bold and vivacious. I purchased a few mix collections from Spring Hill some years ago. Here are my beauties:

They are very easy to grow: dig a whole about 6 inches deep, put them in pointer side face up, and water. I planted them in the fall and the first spring it bloomed one or two flowers; they were very short and small. They also only bloomed once. The second year was this year and there were several blooms appearing one at a time for at least 3 months. The branches were taller and blooms were much bigger. They are very easy to maintain and doesn’t mind the heat waves we have here in California. The package says they are hardy in zones 3-9 but I live in zone 10a and it coped very well.