Succulents in San Diego - Echeverias

Echeveria 'Blue Curls'







There are so many reasons to explore the world of succulents that are available for your San Diego gardens. Because of their durability, variety and drought tolerance succulents offer the potential for design that is imaginative as well as environmentally sensitive. A succulent is any plant that stores water in juicy tissues in order to survive drought. Because most species originate from parts of the world with harsh growing conditions, succulents need less maintenance and water than other typical landscape plantings. They come in an unbelievable, sometimes other-worldly, variety of colors, forms and textures. San Diego's nurseries and garden centers now offer a great selection to choose from since the demand for these eye catching and low-maintenance plants has increased. For those of you with a bit of a gardener in you, succulents are easy to propagate. You can take cuttings or start seeds and produce your own supply of accent plantings. Since the hot weather has finally arrived in San Diego, we at Torrey Pines Landscape Co., Inc., would like to highlight some of the genus, species and varieties that have inspired us.





Echeveria 'Doris Taylor'



Today's blog: Echeverias

This large genus of succulents is in the Crassulaceae famil. They are native to Texas, Mexico and Central and South America. They are named after the 18th century Mexican botanical artists and naturalist Atanasio Echevarria Codoy who was one of the expedition to compile an inventory of Mexico's flora and fauna.
Most species can grow in some shade and can take some frost (hybrids tend to be less hardy). Although they are drought resistant, they really thrive with regular deep watering and fertilizing. Most species lose their lower leaves in the winter. It's better to remove the lower leaves regularly because it protects the plant from moisture and fungus which may wick-up. This is a plant easily propagated. You simply re-root the main rosette and use the bottoms for growing new plants. In the spring and summer they produce bloom spikes a foot or longer that gracefully curl with flowers in a wide variety of colors.


I was so enthralled with a photo of a blooming Echeveria elegant hyrid that I took at Mirmar Wholesale nursery that I featured it in an ad we ran in the San Diego Home and Garden Magazine.




-garden girl

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