Before and After: Large Echeveria Planter

Here are some progress photos from a large planter I put together in early March of 2014. It is filled with echeverias, pachyverias, graptoverias, sedeverias, and graptosedum.

The plants were spread out within the planter, given plenty of room to grow. In the middle, I planted a couple of Echeveria 'Perl von Nurnberg' rosettes that I took from a planter that needed to be rethought. The rest of the plants were purchased specifically for this new planting.

This picture from March 3, 2014 shows the freshly arranged planter. The top dressing is non-porous pea pebbles.

Perl von Nurnberg echeverias have a waxy coating that gives them a lovely ivory pink appearance, and it easily rubs and washes off. This makes them less than ideal for a garden setting, but care is taken not to water them from above.

Clockwise from top left, Sedeveria 'Blue Elf', Graptosedum 'California Sunset', Echeveria 'Green Goddess', Pachyveria 'Powder Puff', Graptoveria 'Titubans', Echeveria 'Allegra', and Pachyveria 'Royal Flush'.

The other plants were loosely arranged around the larger echeveria rosettes, some grouped while others were interspersed throughout the planter. Though each store-bought retail planter seems to hold one multi-stemmed plant, some are actually three or four plants that can be carefully separated.

The latest pictures are from nine months later, the planter taking shelter in the temporary greenhouse I construct in the winter. Hardly any of the top dressing can be seen, and some plants are spilling over the sides of the clay planter.

The mild fall means that some of the plants continue to grow. If it becomes too full, the solution will be to take cuttings from some of the plants in the spring to be planted elsewhere. However, care will be taken not to subtract from the lush appearance gained thus far.

This December 6, 2014 picture shows the impressive growth of the rosette succulents over nine months. Though they all share the same general form, the varying leaf colors help them stand out from each other.