May 22, 2012

Sprucing Up With Succulents!


The front porch needed a little sprucing up.  The update needed to be extremely low maintenance, budget friendly and welcoming.


I started by freshening an existing planter with pea gravel and scattered, colored stones that I had on hand from past mosaic projects.  


An assortment of succulents (sedum, ghost plant, and squid agave), many of them pass-alongs or rescued from tired plantings, were arranged in an unused galvanized tub that was hanging around the back porch. 

Did you know that you can propagate succulents simply by sticking a broken piece into the soil.  You can see a new, tiny ghost plant coming up in the lower center of the photograph.  It's growing from a broken piece of the original plant. 


Together these containers make an interesting, easy care combination of texture and color to welcome visitors.

14 comments:

  1. Very nice! I am a big fan of succulents. The textures and colors are so diverse. Those hands are very cool...did you make them?

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  2. Huge fan of succulents. They are beautiful pants to hve around. Love the arrangement!

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  3. I really like those multi colored stones in the container. It's a subtle detail that makes all the difference.

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  4. Clever woman! Love the bucket of succulents.

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  5. Sweet! I love it! Seems like it would make a nice gift as well.

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  6. The hands are my favorite touch, but I agree succulents are the gift that keeps giving

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  7. Cat, Your front porch containers turned out really well. I have always liked the motif of an open hand. You often see it on old quilts and other Americana. We count on our hands to do so many things and anopen palm is always welcoming.

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  8. Great idea! I agree with the others that the hands are an extra special element. I've propagated Sedum 'Autumn Joy' several times by peeling off leaves and sticking them in the dirt. Amazing! I wish more plants were that easy to establish. ;-)

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  9. I am such a fan of a pot filled with succulents. But I'll agree with the others, those open hands are very special accent pieces that really "make" the arrangements. Extremely welcoming, thanks for inviting us all in!

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  10. So creative and I love the different plants...many that only grow as house plants here.

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  11. Very nice use of plants and containers and rocks! I love the little hands. I bet you found those in some second hand shop somewhere!

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  12. Thanks, y'all!

    Chris G. I made the hands out of clay, glazed and fired them. I have dreams of using them to make a fountain some day when I get around to it!

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  13. I'm looking for a succulent, but I don't know the name. The kind that hang nicely over the edge. A donkey tail? Rosary plant? I only have an aloe now and it survived a transplant recently. I thought I'd lost it there but after weeks and weeks it's on the rebound. You did such a good job with the containers and I love the hands.

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  14. Yes succulents are like that, and that is a sort of a problem here in the hot tropics. Because of that succulent habit, it sometimes become my problem in the property, also happens with colocasia, dieffenbachia, marantha, etc. And that Sansevieria, which we have a lot too, i started with a variety which has that yellow striped margins. When a leaf breaks and it started growing, only the green middle portion grow, and it grows faster than the striped. Now, i tend to cut and throw them. haha!

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