They say "Nature abhors a vacuum." Well, I think it's also true that plants will continue to expand into the space allotted to them, which is what seems to be happening out in the greenhouse. I recently made more room for seed starting, but before I could actually get out there and start filling pots with soil and sowing seeds, one of the shelves that I had cleared off for seed trays started to...um...magically fill up with plants.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgX24UZmw6zOTSXeRmUZzZMCf9xgn1P3LMnnV4AFqX_7OQywwCBXhZ5tV99ZgbvDkBtQlakIlFBzPvp6zAIzKuMwDUkwayFyxx6mi_XLO67-WjG7FtXxpBnnPfsB0BCnfEssrlS7ojdHg/s1600/DSC_8474.JPG) |
How did they get there? |
But, surely they won't take up much space. They're just teeny-weeny, itty-bitty 4 oz. pots. Every year about this time, succulents in 4-oz. pots start appearing at the big box stores, and at only $2.98, they're hard to resist. They're really well-labeled too, and not just with the tags that say "treated with neonicotinoids." Not to mention I'm in the Home Depot Garden Club, which emails me every week with a $5 off coupon per $50 purchase.
I thought this year I'd try putting some tender succulents right in the ground in the gravel garden (which is getting a makeover -- more on that in a future post). Over the past summer, I saw Senecio mandraliscae planted in the ground, like an annual, at PowellsWood, so I thought I'd try that. I had to go to two Home Depots to buy up all the S. mandraliscae they had in those $2.98 pots. Ultimately I ended up with 12, and I'm looking forward to the cool blue statement they're going to make.
Of course, there were a few more cuties there that I had to get as well.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRkwb1dX_LwHDRLywPq9Dz6YiksaSWSwDjOOTHhd6AxoBdLHUhBtRBTzcxPOqsGhIvgKZHX_ZyUEGwKC1O285ZqA1EfxDWdtcqbst9LKbwxgi9WUckHlWB646zf049nbdqOQWVVpnf3k/s1600/DSC_8477.JPG) |
Echeveria 'Lola' |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdl8O9SZzTc_Nkeke63LvWYeyScznsHYFww3RqEKLs2EB06Q5XMX9z3taciDziEHicC5hPnIYIGKF0QvJCWOGPONwTVaKyhnGq0Y6opb4phEYfhzt8yWQRlPDt0DV_7WGDhuKOVO4cMoo/s1600/DSC_8479.JPG) |
Aeonium 'Catlin Hybrid' |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwu4KvVSBnSwt58DoPIuh0cHRbvWn9JOYI0i6_tPAE3x-uJrSGGZepTA3wM7tBC-rW1ooAOG1k-pjdXD_MR8fPhv9k3TovjpYrmZA-GQUwcBEcwAk-wcSr4guVl3zGR1WNy5fSLKS2QkI/s1600/DSC_8483.JPG) |
Echeveria agavoides |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwE-x35GhmYp13zIxwVry5U2iL-APjwg8ypcPmItWE9top5xIeoxu0pio8iZNxX28WrzRhU8n8SmTdJX7iFdc8dqt2Spb3DW_fPhXTXy-4gFMlWAOyhmGDkRYVp07vYQF92Co1mMEOJc/s1600/DSC_8487.JPG) |
Sansevieria cylindrica |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQSHptBlmgoPsluSNQ2le5_Ot9ufdjkOSThJksIss_5_P8OWLmGD7l6I9t9sWkLQVpwpF8zsSQpXOOlAyVOH8ayRNx6x7wCuoXP6XWx0YQVIbh8AR_oZvwwnmpata_2mWhiLO0QHqZm0/s1600/DSC_8489.JPG) |
Three pots of Euphorbia tirucalli 'Firesticks' which also may end up in the ground |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIU71RwG-j3Iz3O7Ff7-ssrpTrbjpkqxpj08hCOEKD7Tx9dt1VMfxENDwEVCxaR_5PgosNaEbRMa9lldVPKJ8OBqyEG0cIAtttEhTbySyQ0E8-BSVC-Jkvd5ekbeT41RcDPZEIiuoPLTc/s1600/DSC_8497.jpg) |
How could I resist a Mammillaria spinosissima cactus called 'Red-Headed Irishman'? |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbfVltZGF1DW2xoB3kJi13fH4w-_JM_I5FjbyJrRmDmdl9NIuPFmFWCiYEnTAo4lWI0zcXRjngkCGVzQHQ5hFntYbx2eEBkfryHnuFEh03a7mouYHIKXzUzCtOGiN2IBnIe0pkN0VhKM/s1600/DSC_8501.JPG) |
It's the same color as my ginger son's hair |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6Rir9eE_AaixX7PFDA_c5ZIpDovwBIWRaxsu8wmqkjrkAP0FXzNgRv-ww1JyMMmgszIf91HXKEaVTtcVDctEx_VZY9c4y9W4YtA5Dd0teFfxFu8_TowbaOyfI5smQvIgiElJI3t-ygM/s1600/DSC_8503.JPG) |
And Mammillaria hahniana 'Old Lady Cactus'? I mean, come on. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5-IKDPRmTjREJAmyJ5bi3nj6fTdaNUtTlmapA_x0-2ySS9O-OjWEAb4eLkuavCY_It36giP-rxi-RK07ZRRAh9jmpVPMyxEaBjkUD95yJNFMfuZXeS_cw2EB_LWeiNKTijo4almMEBM/s1600/DSC_8505.JPG) |
She's getting ready to flower soon |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj205ezMcshEJGcz3Z97QR0cpvGXs0DNNgcNc0-URffEBBxr7G2Ty7ere2Ubwr0U5gHDu1hYSnhSiOSoM5SxRXvhc7RAj7u9C6LWVlsIo7o0j-z7wGxOfRrr37Xhi8rhuu-QMPmPDIdD1k/s1600/DSC_8513.JPG) |
This little guy is Mammillaria nejapensis 'Silver Arrows' |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_-djmB56WD-74PFwK7Mu77wBQ7S0ZoVdxjMGjGRqtwB6r48KGds2LbeyPd4KkdV8Yw3z0IrEnW3QB1GkWPDc1-sIXY7v5mlGJhGxBYkSogy-gg6Hmlx5OPKQBHniZ1foG8ywKou2Bmg/s1600/DSC_8517.JPG) |
Euphorbia flanaganii cristata |
I've been so pleased with the success of my first Aloe, Aloe glauca, which has been blooming all winter, that I decided to check out a few more.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7EK9qh-Wl_NVQXEhExP6nKtoDAAtaNdyXFKAIL50rt5P9bvlt8bplDZha-KwvFx6n65G8XomhZ4mfFLnb3ZpPkivAVSX5krqTlGpzVHcphyQFdQrGK7wSEdpG_WuX6pprlvaNlcZUh4/s1600/DSC_8482.JPG) |
Aloe bakeri, with one slim flower stalk poking up |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnf-sx4cKXtBgj2Y9nxO2yQQn7Om4Z4G1kDrDGFo0rmuvdtmFKZVrF3pzyUw5XkJ0HvctSxc3GO4b2OadbZyCTbX5wm6F_WFnHjlOjjbBZJnYuGH1G3i22tTnrpHeuJenXlkFAO6wRnWQ/s1600/DSC_8492.JPG) |
Aloe zanzibarica |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_M4En9Rs82tXu0Tolu5s8WNUMuoOZBrO2qqgvMejlOwJRwqvjLq8jLVJDiH8eH4hPTSaj4Vkk8AkjECQpVpIodVIN6f9beR48_-y4kVMc0DxaGPUtRSqHfc6UeNfFs_tMi-rvIi05ds/s1600/DSC_8496.JPG) |
I think this one, which was labeled simply "Succulent," is Aloe fragilis |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVddmfNY2vc6Ct9ud-qrkM_qjBgPjtjO_5ChOtIPzEJTT25FbXylDIsWEcon7hHJ8P7Zm93pUkUZSE90yGJVgSiyDSTv4xdg8RkWEuRF9lveqUZ2OYZl7fsa1R6nA1498zG2hodeiDY2A/s1600/DSC_8493.JPG) |
Here are the adorable, and very ethereal-looking, flowers, so very different from my A. glauca's thick, muscular, asparagus-like flower stalk |
I better get out there and get some seeds going soon, or else I'm going to be in big trouble.