Phoenix Tropicals Gardening

[GermanStar]

Before and after pics of some wasted space off my main entryway transformed into a nice raised bed I plan to fill with all manner of small succulents. I began the little project just this past Monday.

[GermanStar]

And the after... The bed is about 8' x 3'. The lonely plant residing there at the moment is Gasteria excelsa.

[phoenixtropicals]

Looks good. I wonder if piling the dirt up against your wall like that will cause problems though. For example, it might make it easy for termites to get past your slab and into the wood. Also, when you water it might soak your wall.

[GermanStar]

My main concern was long term contact with wet soil creating favorable conditions for black mold or some such horror. I addressed that by adding a layer of 4 mil black polyethylene sheeting to protect the stucco from the soil, so there shouldn't be any concern whatsoever. I love landscape bricks, they can really class up a dreary corner, don't you think? In this case, NE exposure behind that wall and under a tree, the space was completely useless. Raising the bed provides for about 3 hours of morning sun and a new fun place to grow some weird little plants. I ran a new drip line there before erecting the wall, and once I'm done planting, I'll loop a soaker hose around the bed to run on my 90-minute once per week schedule. I'll post more pics once it's filled in. I definitely want some ground covers in front to drape over the bricks.

[GermanStar]

Here it is, nearly full up. A few Sansevierias are showing up Friday for the final touch. Then we'll separate the thrivers from the survivors.

[phoenixtropicals]

Nice. You have a lot of interesting succulents going. Have you ever gone to AZ Cactus sales in Chandler. They have a huge variety of those unusual succulents.

http://www.arizonacactussales.com/

[GermanStar]

I had seen their website, but never realized it was an actual place. This is new stuff to me, and as you can see, the bed is already bursting with plants. Here's a list:

Aeonium canariense
Aeonium hybrid
Euphorbia caput-medusae
Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa
Gasteria acinacifolia
Gasteria excelsa
Gasteria bicolor
Gasteria bicolor ‘Little Warty’
Gasteria species
Haworthia coarctata
Haworthia limifolia
Haworthia magnifica v. acuminata
Haworthia mirabilis mundula
Haworthia herbacea
Haworthia truncata
Haworthia venosa ssp. tesselata
Huernia bayeri
Huernia schneideriana
Manfreda virginica
Mangave ‘Bloodspot’
Oscularia deltoides
Oscularia primaverna
Stapelia gettliffei
Stapelia grandiflora

I believe at least several of these are Zone 10, including many of the Haworthias, so that's a definite issue. OTOH, a raised bed, nestled in this odd little cranny, surrounded by stucco and bricks, and under a tree canopy, should be the warmest spot on my property. We'll see how it goes -- at least with those plants tough enough to survive our summer. It's a fun little experiment, I'm sure some will do fine there, but the rest, who knows...

[phoenixtropicals]

You could probably hang a curtain or plastic tarp in front of it if it freezes and being surrounded by the house and sealed on the edges it would never freeze. Nothing ever freezes in my garage here for instance.

[GermanStar]

You're right, I should be able to rig something to very nearly seal it. Here is the final plant list, now that the Sansevierias have shown (what a nice finishing touch!). My one concern is the Sansevierias reaction to 3 hours of morning sun the bed now receives, that due to the freeze-defoliated Jacaranda, which thankfully, did survive. It will be a month or more before it leafs out in earnest (won't happen until after it's bloomed), so I may have to resort to some shade cloth in the meantime.

Aeonium canariense
Aeonium hybrid
Euphorbia caput-medusae
Faucaria felina ssp. tuberculosa
Gasteria acinacifolia
Gasteria excelsa
Gasteria bicolor
Gasteria bicolor ‘Little Warty’
Gasteria species
Haworthia coarctata
Haworthia limifolia
Haworthia magnifica v. acuminata
Haworthia mirabilis mundula
Haworthia herbacea
Haworthia truncata
Haworthia venosa ssp. tesselata
Huernia bayeri
Huernia schneideriana
Manfreda virginica
Mangave ‘Bloodspot’
Oscularia deltoides
Oscularia primaverna
Sansevieria cylindrica v. patula
Sansevieria fischeri
Sansevieria masoniana
Sansevieria stuckyi
Sansevieria sulcata
Stapelia gettliffei
Stapelia grandiflora

[phoenixtropicals]

Succulentabulous!

[phoenixtropicals]

I thought you might appreciate a photo of my little succulent patch. This is the North side of my house in a courtyard area so it doesn't get a lot of sun. Also, it gets watered on a citrus schedule, once a week summer, every 3 weeks winter, so its somewhat on the dry side. I found very few things grew in this environment which could also take the AZ heat. However, succulents seemed to be okay, plus some had colorful flowers, so this area turned into my succulent patch. The plants in the foreground are maternity plants, and they ofen reproduce by dropping babies from their leaves. However, they are actually flowering now, and you can see the flower spike sticking up. The background ground cover is hearts and flowers (not looking too great this time of year), and the little orange flower is from a "Basha's" Kalanchoe. I forget the name of the little purplish one in the foreground. I think it started with a "C". Would you know? I had some Rocky Point Ice Plants in a little bit more sunny part of this courtyard for years, but then the sparrows pecked it to death. Evidently they learned it was a source of water. Too bad because it looked great. Maybe I'll try it again. The spicky thing in the back is my Madagascar Palm.

[GermanStar]

Sorry, I don't know what that is -- I'm still new to all this non-Agave stuff. I do have plant suggestions for you if you want to spruce it up a bit. There are a couple Agaves that do nicely in full or near full shade, A. bovicornuta (medium sized Agave that does not offset) and A. bracteosa (harmless little clumper -- a real Agave oddball some claim is not monocarpic). Sansevierias would do well there, try S. cylindrica. I wouldn't bother with S. trifasciata (regular mother in-law's tongue) -- it will start taking damage in mid 30s. Also, most any Gasteria -- some are small, a couple attain an appreciable size. The large Gasteria in my raised bed is G. excelsa -- it survived our Feb cold snap in the low 20s with only the slightest of peripheral damage. Finally, try an Aeonium or two, some get quite large -- real show stoppers!

There used to be a fair number of Madagascar Palms around my neighborhood. No more.

[phoenixtropicals]

Great. Thanks for the advice. I'll look into those.

[GermanStar]

I'm kinda thinking those little purple guys are Echeverias. I've never tried one, I understand Javalinas consider them delicious. I'm very grateful to my local Javalinas, btw, for allowing me this raised bed. They could have turned it to rubble at any time.

[phoenixtropicals]

I figured out what the little purple one is. It's a Sedeveria.