Succulent arrangement

This little arrangement in a glazed ceramic bowl has been doing pretty well since I planted it in the summer. I got this lovely bowl at an arts fair featuring Penn students' work. The bowl has no drainage so minimal watering is necessary. The highlight of the arrangement is the striated aloe placed slightly off-center. Two different types of senecio provide some height for the arrangement. And tucked in the foreground are tiny sempervivums. Finally, the top is covered with fine sand and some decorative pebbles and seashells. Voilà!

Succulent arrangement

This was a more unusual and somewhat challenging succulent arrangement because it's in a wicker basket that I re-purposed from a gift hamper. I first made an inner lining with double-layers of plastic to keep the basket water-proof. Then, I filled the bottom with about one half-inch of river stones. The highlight is the mysterious-looking Echeveria 'Black Prince' with burgundy tips and a luminous green center. It sits in its own 4-inch container which I buried in the basket to keep the roots separate in case I have to move it at some stage. Next, I planted a ring of Sempervivum arachnoideum around it, followed by other Sempervivums, Sedums burrito, Senecio rowleyanus, and Crassula perforata in opposing diagonals. 

With all the plants in place, I trimmed off the excess around the plastic lining as close to the edge of the basket as possible, and tucked the plastic into the basket. Finally, to hide the plastic lining and give it a finished look, the arrangement is dressed with some white gravel and given a little (just a little) water to help the roots settle in. This makes a wonderful, low-maintenance, dining table decorative arrangement that can be reused for multiple occasions. In between events, just leave in a sunny spot outdoors or near a window and keep it happy and lovely.   

Succulent arrangement

After being inspired by a book on succulent container gardens by Debra Baldwin, and also receiving a batch of lovely Sempervivums this weekend, I decided to compose a small succulent arrangement for our patio. One tip from Baldwin was to include a focus plant and place it off-center in the container. In this case, I picked a medium-sized Crassula ovata as the focus. Next, I grouped triplets of each variety of the Sempervivums with the larger ones further back in the arrangement, followed by smaller ones in the foreground. As for the gaps in between these, I also placed small cuttings of various Sedum, hoping they will eventually trail over the edge of the container and add some blue-green shades to the arrangement. What I found tricky was filling in the spaces between each plant with the potting soil without getting it all over the foliage. I'll need to get a soft brush to get the debris off more easily. The whole affair took about 30 to 40 minutes, including cleaning up. Hope these babies grow up beautifully!