IF I SAID

If I said "not so many pots this year" then I am not doing very well. With my greenhouse and potting shed stacked with plants over the winter it was impossible to get in there to care for them and with a mild winter and lots of sun they suffered enormously from the lack of water. But, cactus and succulents are amazingly resilient and many clung on doggedly to life. Then again there is nothing I love more than bringing plants back to life. So, once again I seem have almost as many post as last year. One change I have made though, in an effort to simplify my life, is to the wall planter and the hanging basket.

Tired of the impossible task of watering through the summer I decided to plant up with succulents. And in one fell swoop I managed to empty 7 small pots of cactus and succulents. They are filling in quickly with our recent rains. Every one of them is cutting from another plant- my weakness has paid off.
The same with the hanging basket on the dining patio.

What on earth was I going to do with the long trailing branch on the Pereskia? A hanging basket seemed to be the perfect solution. Planted in a very gravelly mix I hardened off some Sedum nussbaumerianum cuttings and planted beneath. They play off the copper-colored new leaf growth on Pereskia.

New growth captured at sunrise

And then there are the ones on the fireplace. I ended up nursing them back to health and they all seem to be making it.

There is nothing particularly special about these plants And they propagate readily so there is always another pot to fill. I have found that it pays to use good cactus and succulent soil and last year I did splurge on a couple of bags of soil from East Side Succulents. It's expensive but the plants love the pumice incorporated in the mix. We all know how expensive that product is.

On the lower level more pots and even going up the steps in to the English Garden.

Pot placement is not an easy thing to do and, one day while sitting in the shade and looking at this area, I realized the area had a decided untidy look. I needed to relocate some of the pots. As those who have visited the garden know I have a place outside the garden which is well suited to receiving the extras. Maybe it is unfair of me to call it the Gulag but that is what I have called it in the past. If a plant survives and does well then it may return to the garden. It really isn't such a bad place to live.

And finally the Cactus Theatre in the front garden. I used to have a hayrack here until 3 years ago when I saw a miniature hosta Theatre at Holehird Gardens in the Lake District in England. The perfect solution. Of course once again the plants are mostly cuttings from what I already have. Time for a few treats once lockdown is over for me.