Come on down!
I'm planting this
raised area
with cuttings
I think it's going
to be really pretty
surrounding the
base of the
Beaucarnea recurvata
So far, I haven't had
any problem with
frost here, because
I think the beaucarnea
is just enough to
protect it.
So, this is my
lower garden
I have a half acre
And it's on a
steep slope
I sometimes call it
my inhospitable
half-acre because
it's very rocky,
the soil is poor
it's decomposed
granite and clay
I've done a lot of
amending
I've lived here
for 25 years
had a lot of compost
that I've added back
into the soil
I also use mushroom
compost, I mix in
things like pumice
that help the soil
to drain
I designed this new
section of the garden
that has all the
flagstone to be
viewed primarily
from this location
Because before, the
garden was a bit
of a mish-mash
and I wanted to be
able to get good
photography from one
main location
And so you come
down the stairs
and you enter this
area that is sheltered
by this large oak tree
I can grow just about
anything under this,
even though I have a
somewhat challenging
climate, I get near-desert
heat in the summer,
and it dips below freezing
in the winter
Thanks to the oak tree
I've got a perfect
microclimate for
succulents, and it is
a little messy, it
drops leaves and I
have to keep after
them, but not only
does it have this
multilayered canopy
that creates bright
shade, it also has this
great oak leaf mulch
decomposing oak leaves
plants of all kinds
just thrive in oak
leaf mulch
so if you have an
oak tree, it's a tremendous
blessing, it'll provide
shade for your plants
in the summertime
and frost protection
in the winter
So as you come into
this area, you can
see there's a lot of
repetition going on
here, I have the blue
senecio all along here
And that's just sort
of like a river that
flows through here
Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'
is one of my
favorite succulents
I like how it turns
different colors
at different times
of the year
It's a real chameleon
And a real powerhouse
in the garden
A dasylirion over there
with long, thin leaves
When you see these
moving in the wind
it's wonderful
it's like a fountain
And at the base
are some aloes
It's beautiful when
it blooms
And everybody asks
about these
Boophone disticha
A kind of bulb
With crazy wrinkled
curved leaves and
they've yet to bloom
I think maybe they
get a little too much
shade, but they're
interesting just for
their fan-shaped,
curvy, wrinkly leaves
My favorite plant for
popping into bare
spots in the garden
is Aloe brevifolia
Wherever you put it
it just does really well
It doesn't take over
though, but it will
form a colony
and over time
you get this lovely
fullness and repetition
of form
This rock wall was
already here, I've
added aeoniums
They look really good
along the top of it
As you look up the
slope, I've also added
more aeoniums
Because they're just
so happy underneath
the oak tree
You know, one neat
thing about coming
here in midwinter
Is you see things in
bloom that you
wouldn't see in spring
when everything is
blasting into bloom
And among them
are the cotyledons
So this is a kind of
a rangy, leggy plant
that's not beautiful
most of the year
Late December,
January, you get these
spectacular, parasol-like
flowers.
They look like
ladies' ballgowns
Look at that
The way the hardscape
is formed is it's
not a perfect line
I wanted curves and
S-shapes in the garden
Because it's more natural
This is the succulent
sitting area
It's like sitting inside
a succulent wreath
What I really love
about it is when you're
sitting here, the plants
are at eye level
It's the first area that
I try to make nice
when I have company
coming, because we're
going to be sitting here,
and we're going to be
looking at these plants
close up
It's just a real happy
coincidence that all of
these are facing the
viewer, because that
is the direction of
greatest light
And I put my more
spectacular plants
here that you want
to see close up,
like the large aeonium
Aeonium 'Moonglow'
or it's the opposite
of 'Sunburst' because
it has more green on it
than yellow.
Variegated
aloes do really well
here, they like this
bright shade underneath
the oak trees, but they
don't bloom here
I mean, that's your
tradeoff, and I grow
it for its leaves, not for
its flowers, because
I know the shade is
too deep for it to
bloom here, and I don't
want it to bloom
because it's going to
send blooms right
into the sitting area
and they're going to
be in the way, I'd have
to clip them off.
The regular Aloe
arborescens over here
is in full, beautiful
bloom right now
because it's getting
more sun, so know your
microclimates, understand
the orientation of your
garden to the sun
because it's going to
make a big difference
in where you position
sitting areas, what
direction the plants
are going to naturally
turn toward
You have to allow for that.
Because if they're
growing in semishade
and the greatest light
is coming from another
direction, they're going
to lean toward it.
So plan for that.
Now here we have
a little aloe that
doesn't seem to mind
the low light, and it's
blooming anyway
But it's the exception
This is also a perfect
location for echeverias
They're completely
protected from direct
hot sun that could
scorch their leaves
Isn't this spectacular?
Three variegates that
repeat the same
starburst shape
But they're all
different plants
So that's a repetition
but it's also
interesting because
they are different,
they're not the same.
Plants create your
composition over time
too, you know they
grow maybe higher or
wider or they'll lean
more, or they'll do
things that you didn't
expect, they'll weave
in and out of other plants
if they're like these
cute little crassulas
This was just a cutting
somebody gave me
popping out here
it's making friends with
this giant aeonium
It's also cascading
down here, which I
love.
So that's part
of the fun and part
of the distressing
aspects of gardening,
is you never know
quite what the plants
are going to do
and they usually do
something that you
hadn't anticipated
but when it works,
it's usually the most
amazingly beautiful
thing that you never
thought of
and you're just taken
away by the beauty
of it.
So I'd say that a
lot of this area was
done by the plants
themselves, and I
can't take credit
for it.
This by the way
is the color wheel
that I did for my
Craftsy class
I try to keep it with
the plants that need
sun in order to turn
orange and yellow and
red on the east side
where they'll get the
most sun because
they're going to need
that sun in order to
color up.
Beaucarnea
recurvata, they're the
ponytail palm
they're not a palm
I guess you could
say they do have a
ponytail, but what
makes them
succulent is not their
floppy, strappy leaves,
but rather their caudex
This part, because a
succulent as you know
is any plant that
withstands periods
of drought by living
off of moisture
stored in its tissues
Well, that is a big
water storage tank
When you look at it
you may not think
"succulent," but it
very much is a
succulent, and over
time, that caudex
will fill that pot.
These pots of succulents
on the steps are
accompanied by a trio
of overly large ants
This is Sedum nussbaumerianum
You can see that I've
given an awful lot of
cuttings of this
wherever I've clipped off
the tip, it will branch
My friends think I'm
remarkably generous,
but I'm actually creating
a fuller plant through
the act of giving it away.
Cuttings stuck into
a pot, Oscularia deltoides
coppertone stonecrop
and Sedum adolphi
This pocket garden
over here was designed
by a good friend
Laura Eubanks of
Design for Serenity
Laura specializes in
creating jewel-box
succulent gardens
enhanced with rivulets
of rocks and pebbles
I especially like how
she incorporated a
pathway in this one
that leads the eye
to the arch below
And I have another
pocket garden by Laura
over here, she beautifully
repeated the color of
Aloe sinkitana flowers
and the leaves of
golden jade with bits of
yellow glass strewn
atop white sand
Both pocket gardens
were installed about
two years ago.
I suppose if you
asked me what my
favorite succulent is
in terms of a particular
plant in my garden,
it would be this
large americana
I rescued it as a pup
16 years ago
and now it's huge
A landscaper friend
told me, "You know,
that is going to get
so big, it's going to
encroach on the
pathway, and then
you'll have to move it."
And I said, "Well,
when that happens,
I'll move the pathway."
And sure enough,
I've had to do that.
The caudex of the
beaucarnea, it's going
to fill in this area,
hopefully in my
lifetime, and in the
meantime, I have this
mounded soil around
it that I planted with
cuttings.
This area
over here is my cactus
garden, and we
probably should leave that
for another video.
I'm Debra Lee Baldwin
Thank you for coming
to my garden.