One thing I love about garden festivals is the plants you bring home which you might never see in your local nurseries, like this one, pictured below. It's Crassula 'Campfire', and I found it two years ago at the Florafest Garden Festival held on NSW's central coast (near Gosford). Here's the link to this year's Florafest, which is happening this weekend (Sept 10-13).
This is such a colourful thing right now, dazzling. Later on it returns to a mostly green-all-over look for the summer, but spring's its thing. I'm propagating more of it, too!
If any local NSW based gardeners are thinking of visiting the Florafest on this Saturday, September 12, please do drop in to the Burke's Backyard tent/stand thingy anytime between 10 and 3 to say hello. I'd love to meet either some fellow bloggers or just a few people who read my blog. All the staff help out at the Festival for one day, and Saturday is my gig there.
If you haven't been to the Florafest before, it has a great atmosphere. I think being an outdoor event helps create the relaxed mood, and as it attracts all sorts of specialist growers there – of orchids, bromeliads, herbs, succulents, natives etc – there's always much more to bring home than you can either afford, or fit into the car, or the garden, for that matter.
I'll be at Mum's birthday party, I'm afraid, but I hope you have a good day at Florafest!
ReplyDeletebeautiful is the word...keep posting, am following you now...
ReplyDeleteHi Jamie, unfort we couldn't find a suitable house/semi in the Marrickville area for our budget.
ReplyDeleteSo, since I will be apartment dwelling again, I was considering a succulent city of my own in the new place.
I haven't grown any before and would welcome any insider tips or recommendations for varieties.
Thanks! Melinda
Melinda
ReplyDeleteThe main things succulents need is sunshine and a light potting mix. You can get specialist cacti and succulent mix at most garden centres, so use that.
As for varieties there are so many! If I were you I'd just start collecting the ones you like the look of, when you see them. That's what we did.
You can't go past echeverias (the rosette ones, also called hen and chickens), sempervivums (also called roof leaks). Kalanchoes are really diverse, but there are lots of nice ones available. Crassulas are diverse, just like kalanchoes, but well worth getting.
The other good thing about succulents is that they are easy to propagate from odd bits of leafs and stems. So if you like a succulent and it's doing well, grow more of that one.
Sorry to hear about the house hunting problems. And good luck with the apartment. Have you visited Prue's blog at 'Totally Inept Balcony Gardener'? It's inspiring what she's doing on her apartment balcony in Melbourne.
Thanks Jamie
ReplyDeleteI will def check out Prue's blog. Does it really matter if they aren't planted in a shallow, wide pot/dish as long as they have good drainage?
I'm already looking at varieties, I do like the Kalanchoe orgyalis for that unique bronze colour, plus I think I can pinch some of my Mum's!
Aw thanks for the kind comments Jamie!!! I am blushing as red as the tips of that succulent. :) Such a cool looking succulent too! Glad I can be of use to people in the balcony gardening world.
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