GARDENING:
Succulents can endure drought and still look truly ravishing
What a fantastic year we’re having for floral displays. all over Britain, pots and hanging baskets overflow with gorgeous colours, and the show could run for months yet — but only with good care.
as the plants mature, summer blooms become more demanding — it takes me more than an hour to water and dead-head mine.
an alternative is to increase my collection of low maintenance, non-thirsty plants.
the most obvious examples are cacti, but they’re hardly suitable for outdoors. Succulents, however, are surprisingly diverse, happy outside and can make beautiful container plants.
these are plants that can endure a near- death existence through prolonged drought. they live in the slow lane.
Succulents can store water in their leaves or stems and grow or bloom only when it rains. Many tolerate neglect, are winter-hardy and are easy to grow.
COLOURFUL NATIVES
SurpriSingly, Britain has its own arid spots and therefore native succulents. Biting Stonecrop, Sedum acre, is the most common, with tiny fleshy leaves and yellow spring flowers. in a natural garden, it’s good in paving cracks, gravel or seeding in an old wall.
the starry snow-white flowers of Sedum album are also a delight in early summer. in hot weather, the little leaves flush red, too.
Succulents from warmer climes are more impressive. Aeonium
arboreum, a Canary islands beauty, grows as a stiff-limbed little tree with leaf rosettes.
in the wild, they form miniforests and can grow up to 2m high. in a chilly Britain, they’re smaller but still make a statement. the best, A. Zwartkop, has glossy rosettes that turn black in full sun. propagate this one from cuttings at any time and root in gritty compost. Equally distinctive A. tabuliforme is Madeiran and grows as a big, flat rosette resembling a table mat.
Known in our family as the ‘splat plant’, it’s charming in a big, shallow alpine pan. after a few years, the ‘splat’ develops a stem with masses of flowers. these seed copiously and then the plant dies.
HARDY ALOE
aloES are glorious and one,
Aloe striatula, has proven fully hardy in my garden.
in sun, gravel or sharp-draining soil, this grows 2m wide with rosettes of pointy, fleshy leaves and big yellow poker flowers.
For patio pots, Echeverias are neater, with decorative leaves in delectable colours and attractive flowers. one of the finest, E. perle von nurnberg, grows tight rosettes of pointed leaves in a blend of ocean green, grey and pinkish-purple.
E. gibbiflora has broader, more loosely packed leaves and handsome flowers. With varieties such as Carunculata, the grey-green leaves develop curled margins.
there are many more tender succulents, and several are also excellent as house plants. the jade or money plant, Crassula
ovata, is almost always grown indoors, but it develops a ruddy glow of health outside.
i grow mine in a mix of 50 per cent potting compost and 50 per cent coarse sand and sharp grit. rapid drainage is essential.
overwinter yours in a frost-free greenhouse or indoors and keep the compost almost dry.