As much as I love plants in general, succulents are my
favorite variety of all.
Luckily, I live in a warm, moist climate, so the possibilites for start-up success are much higher than they would be in Chicago. My goal is to provide a solid start for my water-bloated friends here in New Orleans that will prepare them for a move back to a dryer region.
What I have here are a lot of things starting out.
Some are small cuttings that have been gifted to me, some are babies from my own existing succulent plants, and others are recent purchases that I hope will transform in the coming months.
Chinese jade. The leaves are smaller "paddles" than the variety I covet.
You'll also see some leaves from other jade plants, simply stuck in the soil for rooting...hopefully something will come from them.
I haven't figured out what these are yet. The leaves are furry and a very light green. The label simply said "succulent", so I'm not even sure I'm caring for her the right way yet. At the very least, it will be a nice compliment to another arrangement if she can't make it on her own.
This here is the great-great-great granddaughter of my mother aloe plant.
I am trying to start something great to bring to our friends in Chicago, Joe & Grace, as a gift next time we travel up there at Christmas...these are the friends who originally gave me the aloe 6 years ago.
Coolest re-gift ever, right?
(Well, they will think so, they're plant geeks like me).
Joe & Grace also gave me some jade cuttings.
I *L*O*V*E* J*A*D*E!
It's my absolute favorite succulent, and it's apparently one of the easiest to grow yet I cannot seem to get one to the point of independent health where it wants to go crazy like his.
Ahhhhh......just look at that thing. Beautiful.
This will be the 3rd cutting I'm taking from this very plant.
I feel confident this time because I'm taking an entirely
new approach: avoidance.
(Brief history: the more I coddle my jade plants, the worse off they
seem to be. This time I'll simply ignore & hope.)
I'm not sure the name of this variety either, but I think it's
just so cute & compact & tidy.
It kind of reminds me of a Cabbage Patch Kid.
My existing [mini] succulent "garden". Just the beginning...
Crown of Thorns.
The leaves aren't as fleshy as the others shown above, but the stem is thick, water-filled and, as stated in the name, full of thorns.
This was another gift from J & G, cut from a larger version in their home.
I've just transplanted today, so it's still adjusting...
we'll see how she does. I'll be posting updates over the next few months
(along with mention of the others).
This one you've seen before. It's on my sunny balcony.
She's a flowering succulent called purslane...it's actually a weed!
Some day I hope to have a few small succulent gardens resembling
these scattered about my place.
It will take extra loving care because we won't live
in this tropical climate forever.
I have from now until the time we move back to Chicago
to get these juicy babies to a hardy,
Midwest-ready condition!
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