What's left behind

I've been taking lots of pictures of the agaves recently. From different angles, close ups, almost everything execpt the whole  plant.

One of the sets of photos has been around the spines. At this time of year they are at their best. This agave parryi 1684 has a range of colours from yellow to almost black as they age.

Looking at this photo the bud inprints really stand out. These depressions produced by the previous leaf before they unfurl, leaving the perfect impression of what is no longer there.

Not all agaves produce them and some are better than others. They come in different forms, the depressions like these, then there are some where pail powder hasn't formed as thickly like agave ovatifolia.

Combine the impression with a bit of powder and you get really defined inprint, like agave montana.

It gives a pretty special look to the leaves.

When the spines are more ornate the effect is even more special.

I believe in art they call it have a term negative space, and it's thought that the space left between what is draw / painted is as important as the what is marked.  It seems with agaves that the space left by what was there can be as dramatic.

The sun is out at last.

It's been a glorious sunny weekend here, the first of the summer sadly. Lots of work in the garden, so expect an update soon. In the mean time, over lunch I noticed the sun shining through the edge of the agave parasana fireball.

Succulent rockery revamp

I mentioned in previous posts that the main succulent rockery needed a bit os a revamp, the post can be found here. At the time the rockery looked like this:

The agave salmiana had already been removed along with the other plants being dug out, or moved to other locations in the bed. The rock was ordered, set out and finally we had a break in the rain and it was possible to plant it up. First filling the gaps in the exisiting section.  Where the aloe striatula was we planted a catus, a trichocereus pachanoi.

What looks like the wire cage around it, was testing out things that could be used to provide a cover for winter protection. There's still a couple of gaps to be filled, but they can be filled with pots until I decide what will fit.

Where the agave salmiana was there is now a little agave asperrima. My plant is only small so here is a photo of the mother plant at Crete Lodge.

The new plants still need to fill out to make that section more balanced with the left hand side.

As you can see the aloe polyphylla is flowering nicely this year.

The other side of the railway sleeper is the new extension to the bed.  The first plants to go in were the aloe polyphyllas, just infront of the post you can see the one that has been planted.  In the pot next to it, is the tripple headed that will stay in the pot this year and be planted next year when better established.

The main plants in this section are the twin yucca rostrata. This looks so much better now it is in a gravel bed and can be seen more clearly.  A good trim helped as well.

The second larger plant was suppose to be an agave montana. Again thanks to Melissa at Crete Lodge.  She found them for sale marked as agave montana, but they are obviously not pure montana, so either a hybrid or something totally different. Sometimes you find plants which are just being sold with the wrong name, and then you find plants which are just oddities. As we have no idea what it is, we have no idea how hardy it is, or how big it will get.  It all adds to the fun.

Also in the bed you can see the agave mitis var albicans.  This is a lovely form of A. mitis, much rarer and probaly not as hardy. It has been fine for me and as the idea will be to cover this bed to some degree I though it was worth a try.  The aloe saponaria variegata has proven hardy in the existing part of the rockery.

The other larger plants to go in here are the manfredas and in the future possible mangaves.  I have planted two manfreda gutattas as an initial test.  They have been fine cold wise when kept dry.   Plus with the flowering plant offsetting I have lots of them.

There are already quite a few smaller alpines mixed in, the great thing about rockeries is the play you canget between the plants and rocks.

Lots of space to fill out, which this year will be filled with pots.

It all looks a bit small compared to the established parts, so you will have to imagine to picture it all equalled out in a few years time. I'm pleased so far and if it ever stops raining it will look great in the sun.

Some things are meant to be

A couple of year ago I experimented with hypertufa, making a couple of test pots.  They were nothing special at the time, but slowly moss started to grow on them and they have turned into much more natural pots.  I have been looking for something to go in them and was surprised to find a little agave filifera at the local garden center.  They are just made for each other.

The agave has a certain compacta look to it, which would be great.  Sadly it is probably just a young plant, so will need some sort of intervention to keep it small. Either way for the next couple of years it is going to be put somewhere to be admired.

Moving the agave salmiana

It was not possible to put it off any longer time to clear this section ready to expand the rockery.

The aloe striatula, large agave salmiana and the covered agave ferox all needed digging out.  The right side of the railway sleeper was cleared yesterday and the lower palm fronds removed to make access a bit easier. Given the size of the plants, and the length of the terminal spines, time for a little protection.

The aloe striatula came out nice and easily. As there are others in the garden they were just cut up. The little agave ferox also came quickly.  The soil is 50% gravel so the roots pull out without requiring too much force.

It is funny to think this was exactly the same size of the agave salmiana when they were planted, especially given that the full name is agave salmiana var ferox. Then onto the big one.  Digging the roots out was easy, getting it out of the spot was not.  In the end it was manhandled into a big sheet.
This could then be dragged / carried from the back of the house to the front where it would be replanted.  So the first section of the extension to the rockery is complete.

In the front, space had to be cleared in the central bed. I haven't shown much of the front as it's a bit more mixed. The central bed is a large oval, which is the perfect spot to let the agave get to its full size.

Once some space had been created, the agave was lifted into position and slipped almost perfectly into place.  It was nice that it went without issue and too many more stabs.

It's a little sad how small the agave looks in its new home.  It will grow and no doubt given a few years will swamp the other plants in there. Currently the best view is from above.

Not a bad start to the weekend. Sadly the rockery stone is not going to be here until next week, so I'll continue removing the plants from the main rockery. 

It's back to winter and shopping

The last post was all about things warming up and starting to get the plants out of the greenhouse.  Then this week it is back to winter again and all the plants are back inside again.  Such is the joy of UK springs.

Thankfully this weekend was the first cactus mart of the year, so time for a quick trip to the Kent coast with another succulent fan. Some chapters of the British Cactus and Succulent Society hold these sales every year, and the main sellers turn up to kick their year off in style.  The trick is to arrive before they open to ensure you are at the front of the line, that way you stand more chance of picking up that one rare plant someone has brought along. Saturday was no exception and the place was packed so it was pretty much impossible to take photos while there.  Instead just some pictures of the purchases.

It is strange that there are always one or two plants that everyone has, then next year you can't find them anywhere.  This year in the succulents it was the echeveria agavoides forms that were found on every stand. You were lucky if there was one echeveria ebony in previous years, then this year not only did everyone have them, but there were hybrids, and different forms.

This one was just labelled as a cross, so we'll see how it turns out. Then there were lots of other agavoides forms including: bordeaux, red leaf, red edge, Taurus, etc. I'm torn about all the different names to the red ones, especially when they are small, but they seemed to be the plant of the show. Next year it will be something else.

There are always a few new aloes, usually from the KG stable.  I stopped buying them a few years back but thought this one was a little different, so aloe gargoyle made it into my basket.

Recently I have been adding gasteraloes as they seem to been quite cold hardy for me. You often find gasteraloe flow at these sales but no others, One of the sellers had two different ones and no one else seemed interested so I snapped them up.  First up gasteraloe de Tige.

The second is gasteraloe d' due

Much greener and slimmer leaves on this one.  I can't find the name online anywhere so not sure if it is correct or not. Both had 3 or 4 pups, so those were removed and potted up ready for trades.

The other group of plants that has been sneaking in to my greenhouse are the haworthias.  There are always a lot of haworthias at these sales, it is one of the larger groups of succulents. I tend to like either the compact forms, so limited myself to two haworthia parksiana, one normal form and one hybrid (shown below)

Then the agaves, more have been sneaking into sales in recent years, but here there were very few and they were almost all americana or something common.  There was however one that stood out, agave shrevei ssp. magna.

It has really dark almost black terminal spines and a great leaf shape.  Looking forward to seeing it develop. It's not hardy for me, but should be ok if kept dry, so a pot one, which will also help limit its size.

I didn't manage to get the main plant I was after; an aloe erincaea. No one had them this year, having been one of the big plants last year. I already have a nice one I want to top cut, which should work, but just in case I want to find a reserve. Apart from that quite a successful day and a good way to take my mind of the return to cold weather.

Shifting from winter to summer

This weekend was another sunny one, so time to start unpacking the greenhouse and uncovering the succulent rockery.  It is a little earlier than I usually do this and still a little risky, but with no work trips in the next month I can move things back if any heavy frosts are forcast.

The succueltn rockery is planted to be hardy for London winters, this means the covers are more to keep the plants in top condition.  It therefore doesn't take long to take the two long vegetable cloches off.

There doesn't seem to have been any damage and if this summer is anything like last the growth will be amazing with such an early start. Most of the plants are well known to be hardy, like the yuccas, agaves and aloe polyphylla.

I was looking at the agave parryi hk1684 and like everything it has grown so much since being planted.  This has to be my favourite form.

Then you have the odd test plant.  In the Uk gastroaloes are becoming more common. These seem to be quite hardy and even in last cold winter they were all fine in my greenhouse so last summer one was planted out as a test, gasteria armstongii x aloe aristata.  It sailed through without problems.

There are a few major changes planned for the rockery this year.  Things have grown much quicker than expected and some of the plants have got too big, or just don't work in their locations.  So hopefully will have some good updates on the changes as we get into summer.

Can finally cross one off the wish list

We all have those elusive plants, that torment you from a far. One of mine, was agave titanota black and blue.  Always loved the various titanota forms (true and false).  A blue form, with very dark almost black teeth was going to make it to the wish list.

After a few years it has finally arrived in Europe in larger numbers.  When a little one turns up, you have to go for it.

It may be a while before it reaches it's full potential.

The gardens being overrun

Anyone who grows succulents knows that many are easy to propogate and you can quickly go from a single plant to a clump. With many plants we expect that and make the most of it. The stream of echeveria elegans in one of the rockeries started as a series of individual plant, look at it now.

This clumping habit is something desired.

Then there are the plants that we wish were a little more controlled but we know divide, or send out multiple shoots.  Aloe striatula would be the main example of that in my garden.  I am constantly having to cut off side shoots to try and keep it under control, look at all that new gorwth.

I live in London, I shouldn't have to worry about an aloe out-growing its location!  But then we know this is what it does so it is to be expected.

Then you have the surprises.  Some plants may be known to offset, but you don't think about it, or at least you expect them to be well behaved.  Agaves would fit into that category; I expect offsets on some of them, want them in fact, but never expected them to become a problem.  Enter agave bracteosa.  Firstly it is prolific. The odd offset is fine,  I do not need 10 or 20, especially as it seems to like London and be growing at a good rate. Then to add to the issue, it seems to view gravel and rocks as no barriers to trying to take over the entire rockery and is sending out runners that come up in all sorts of locations.

How? Why?  I have given away many of these and pulled up many more.  It seems every time I look closely under rocks or plants I find new offsets. I don't get actual weeds in the rockery, instead  I spend my time pulling up agave bracteosas. Perhaps to be expected, it is probably behaving as it would in the wild, after all it is known to be one of the best for Uk climate.

Aloes on the other hand are not known to be well suited to UK winters.  There are limited numbers that can be planted out and so it was a surprise that a variegated aloe saponaria survived at all.  Each year it gets better and I posted a little while back that I had to move the clump it had formed. The best variegated plant I re-planted in a better location has grown nicely.

But we are not here to celibrate the plant or it's clump forming habit,  this is another one that likes to explore.  For the last couple of years I have found this coming up further and further from the original clump and it was starting to become a problem.

The cactus had to be dug up to remove the runner and this was only one of the areas they were appearing.  This is the UK, I do not expect to be over-run by wondering aloes.

So does anyone else have problems with unexpected wondering plants?

The planted agaves

After my potted post on some of the potted agaves (here) and having seen the agave report on the blog Piece of Eden (you can read it here) I thought it was time for one on the planted agaves in various rockeries.  I have tried to limit the number of varieties especially as they do not get protected over winter.

Agave Montana

There are two of these in the main rockery and two it the front.  The largest was one of my first planted agaves, it was one that was moved from the old garden.

The second had a bit of a tough start to the year, as it was covered by the aloe striatula. Back in the sun again, it seems not to have noticed.

The two in the front are much slower growing.  They don't get fed, or watered and don't get as much sun and it shows.

You can see the smaller one is very shiny green. It looks a little different to the rest and I wonder if it had a bit of Gentryi mixed in.  It was the reason I bought it, time will tell.

Agave filifera

The other plants that were dug up and moved from the last house are agave filifera. The largest one seems to have stopped getting bigger and now is just increasing in height.

The second plant you can see in the background, it is a little strange as it has no white marks on the leaves.

Neither of these have offset yet which is strange.  They grow at a good rate, and don't show any signs of root problems, just no pups. They also breeze through our winters.

Agave bracteosa

If agave filifera refuses to produce pups, this one doesn't stop.  The main plant is at the top of the main succulent rockery.

As the wall if often used as a seat, it is nice to have something there that doesn't stab when you sit down.

As it has offset the pups have moved around the garden and given away.  The largest is in the cycad rockery.

It doesn't get quite as much sun, so is slower than it's younger brother the other side of the garden. This one is much younger, but the psotion makes it a noticeably faster.

Agave ovatifolia

Again the largest is at the top of the main rockery, not such great positioning on the seat front.

It grows at an impressive rate and shrugs off the winters here. The second one in that rockery is seed grown.  I only kept a few seedlings and this was the best of the bunch.  It is very white in colour.

The third plant is in the front and is one of the named forms, agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' . There is no doubt it is whiter than the standard form. Leaves from the near by trees, got into the crown and caused the brown spots. That wont be happening next year.

This one also has wider leaves than my other two.  It will be interesting to see if these differences continue as it grows. I had wondered how the position would affect this one, it gets less sun and is considerable more exposed.  Apart form the leaf damage it is fine.

Agave parryi HK1684

This is one of my favourite agaves. Smaller than many of the other forms but with very compact form and the spines are a great colour.

It is planted next to a agave parryi compacta

It was a tiny offset when i got it and has finally started to grow properly. It may have to be moved so there is space to grow.  The parryi hk1684 has one pop just out of view and this one that has been grown on in a pot. It's actually the same size as the parent when i got that one.

These get a simple cloche cover over winter, mainly because i don't know where i would replace them if they were damaged.  Plus it's nice to have them in perfect condition.

Agave x nigra

This one has just managed to hang on in there.  Every year it gets damaged by winter and then just recovers by the end of summer.  It is a lovely agave, but for some reason just doesn't seem to like my garden.  I tried moving one to a different location and that rotted altogether.

This one is going to be dug up shortly and moved,  it would be nice to have it looking better. It puts out lots of pups, so I'll probaly take one of those as a spare as well.

Agave salmiana var ferox

The only agave that actually sacres me, mainly because it has gone from this:

To this in only 3 years.

It is now well over a meter tall and almost 1.5m wide.  I always knew it grew to a very large size, it's just the speed of growth that is alarming.  You can see that it's been given no space and is almost in total shade. The plan for this area is to clear it, the agaves will be dug up and this one moved to somewhere else in the garden where it can be given more space.  A great agave, no probalems with my winters, but think carefully before planting.

Agave gentryi

I feel a little guilty about this one.  It is another great agave and mine has just become swamped.

It's in there somewhere.  The wierd thing is, while slow it continues to grow and shows no damage despite these conditions. I have the jaws version as well in a pot, with all the planned moves in this section I'll have to decide on what to do with it.

So there you have them.  I did say I've limted the number of varieties in the ground.