FOR CONTAINERS
UCCULENTS are indispensable assets to every water-wise garden. Their sculptural year-round form, texture and colour give gardens year-round interest. They also have some of the most fascinating shapes in the plant kingdom, their leaves, stems or roots adapted and modified to store nutrients and water, and to reduce moisture loss.
Splantings. Top-dress any bare soil with small black or red rocks or gravel.
Good looking year-round, are the many cultivars of the Canary Island pinwheel (Aeonium haworthii) which has rosettes of blue-green leaves with red edgings. Look out for “Sunburst”, a variegated green and cream or “Zwartkop” in purple-black. The zebra plant (Haworthiopsis attenuata formerly Haworthia attenuata), has pointed leaves banded with white stripes.
Desert roses (Echeveria species and cultivars) have rosettes of grey, bluegrey, green, pink or mauve. The ghostplant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) has rosettes of fleshy grey leaves with pink overtones, while the graptoverias are hybrids between the desert roses and the ghost-plant.
Introduce interesting forms and textures with the blue pencil-like foliage of chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae), yellow-green to the coppertone stonecrop
and jelly bean plant with stumpy green leaves often tipped with red. The spekboom (Portulacaria afra “Nana”) is a spreading groundcover.
Species aloes that add flower colour in the cooler months include the spider aloe (Aloe humilis), coral aloe (A. striata) and grey aloe (A. chabaudii).
For a border of succulents, try firesticks (Euphorbia tirucalli), the
BY KAY MONTGOMERY
Succulents with their fascinating shapes and bright colours are ideal for growing in pots on an open, sunny balcony or patio. Make sure the pots have drainage holes and a free-draining soil mixture. They need a minimum of attention and watering after the initial preparation.
Be creative. Succulents thrive in old pottery, wheelbarrows, birdcages, driftwood, wooden pallets and concrete troughs as long as there are good drainage holes. Succulents also lend themselves to tiered planting on patios. Use them in vertical gardening by attaching plant pockets or rain gutters to walls and fences.
Weeping succulents work well in hanging baskets and in pots where they can spill over the edge. String of beads (Curio rowleyanus) has trailing stems with pea-like foliage and thrives in partial sunlight. The classic donkey tail (Sedum morganianum) has light green foliage, its leaves in the shape of tear drops and is native to Mexico.
String of needles (Ceropegia linearis) has long, pendulous stems and silvery blue-green heart-shaped leaves. The indigenous little pickles (Othonna capensis) can be grown as a trailing succulent in baskets and pots or as a groundcover and is useful for stabilising slopes.
Its succulent grey-green leaves and yellow daisy-like flowers are ideal for attracting butterflies.