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Sempervivums and Succulents

I decided to try my hand and making some topiary arrangements using sempervivums and succulents this year. I wanted to make a topiary (or a few) and maybe a large pot arrangement. I don't have any sempervivums (hens and chicks) or succulents and I find our greenhouses around here don't really carry all that much or much of a variety.

So I decided I would order them, but first a few definitions. Sempervivum is the genus of about 40 different plants that means "lives forever." Sempervivum's are a perennial succulent that leaves form rosettes. Mature rosettes then produce offshoot plants. Most people know the term "hens and chicks" because of the little baby plants that are produced next to the larger plant. Usually around 3 years old, the plant will flower then die.

Sempervivum's like to grow in hot, dry climates and prefer soil that drains (sandy/rocky) and can tolerate frost and low temperatures. These plants are called "hardy" while sempervivum's that can't tolerate cooler temperatures are called "soft" succulents. Soft succulents also seem to have more color or more variety of color than the hardy succulents but as long as they don't go below 32 degrees they should be okay.

So like any one now days, I decided to order my plants online since I don't really care for the choices at the local greenhouses. I settled on Mountain Crest Gardens located in Fort Jones, California. I thought MCG had a lot of variety to choose from and you can search by color, hardiness zone or light levels and more which I liked. I ordered about 12 plants in the 2" pots. They came neatly and securely packed, labeled and came with some instructions as to what to do with the plants when I got them. Each plant ranged from $3-4 dollars.




I also found a site called Succulent Gardens located in Castroville, California. This site sold succulent cuttings which are helpful for making topiaries or wreaths. I found these cuttings to be a reasonable price. I ordered 160 cuttings for $72. The main drawback to the cuttings is that you get a bag of cuttings with no labels or names and you can't choose what you get. So for example, in my bag of 160 about 1/2 are jade plant and something else similar and the other half seems to be more of a variety of rosette type succulents. These should work out fine for my topiary needs but its something to keep in mind if you're picky.


The third website I went to was Topiary Art Works for my forms. I got forms that were filled already filled with sphagnum moss. I got a 9" wreath, heart, turtle and a small Christmas tree shape. This site has different sizes from 9" to very large yard sized topiary forms and their prices seemed reasonable enough.

Once I had everything, I soaked the topiary forms in water for about an hour to make sure they got good and wet all the way through, then I let them dry out over night. The next day, I planted the cuttings in the moist forms. I trimmed away some of the bottom leaves to give me a stem, then I made a hole in the moss using my kitchen scissors, then I place the cutting in the hole. If the hole was too large or the cutting look floppy, then I used a garden pin to hold it in place.




If you want to put the succulents into a pot or repurpose an old item using dirt, that's fine. Just make sure you get the soil for cactus, not a regular potting soil. The cactus mix soil is made to drain water really well. Succulents do not want wet roots. They'll rot.




I found these little ceramic birdbath looking like things at my local craft store. They have some bits that were broken off but I thought they would be okay as planters. And since they were broken they were 75% off or something. I got them for around $4 each. The only drawback to the birdbaths is that there's no drainage. So if this is outside in a down pour or it rains for 4 days, it will flood and stay wet. Just remember to take this one inside or put a trash bag over it while it rains.

I'll probably put either sand or rocks on top of the dirt. I think it just looks a little nicer and a bit more professional.

I left some room around each plant so hopefully they'll fill in more over the summer. I'm pretty pleased with these plants and I'll probably be ordering from Mountain Crest Gardens again. They have some really pretty plants that we not available when I ordered the last time.




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