Friday, August 01, 2014

They Look Like Flowers

On my recent trip to our little succulent greenhouse I can't help but especially notice the group of Aeoniums on the right hand side by the door. At the moment some of them look more like flowers than fleshy leafed succulents.


I love Aeoniums, it is a fantastic group of succulents but this year only one made it outside (Poldark), the rest remained in there. I have bought a few more in the past month or so to add to my collection and they all went straight into the greenhouse as soon as I got them home.

Being succulents, they are checked and watered less often than our other greenhouse but they are no means neglected. Left on their own, some of them have shaped up to look more like blooms at this time of the year. 

This one even looks like a rose...

Aeonium balsamiferum
Aeonium balsamiferum

Aeonium 'Ballerina'
Aeonium 'Ballerina'


Aeonium 'Zwartkop'
This one is not looking at its best but still looks pretty...

Aeonium 'Sunburst'
These two are as big as Peony blooms...


Aeonium hierrense
Aeonium 'Voodoo'
Okay, so they can look like flowers. One thing I have yet to see are Aeoniums in beautiful pots in flower shops sold as an alternative for cut flowers and other plants usually given as presents. Imagine the ones above and the one below in a nice pot, ribbons, gift tag, and all...

Aeonium 'Du Rozzen'
Aeonium 'Du Rozzen'
Makes sense don't you think so? And they last a lot longer than real flowers too and could potentially introduce non gardening recipients of such easily grown plants into gardening.

Mark :-)

38 comments :

  1. Those are beauties. I love aeoniums. Unfortunately the seem not to return my affection.

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    1. Slightly surprised about that Ricki. Although we overwinter ours in a heated greenhouse we still get some casualties so it's not just you...

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  2. I haven't bought a single Aeonium here this year..the losses of our bad winter set me back I guess. You have a nice collection Mark ! I particularly like Du Rozzen and balsamiferum ..the latter I have murdered on several occasions. I need to come up with a better winter plan for these !

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    1. Well worth keeping trying Kathy :) perhaps overwinter a cutting or two in the house instead?

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  3. I love 'Du Rozzen' and can't recall having seen it here. I have at least half a dozen varieties of Aeonium but I guess that's to be expected. As the flowers in my garden are disappearing as summer advances, you may well see me make a bouquet out of them for the 'In a Vase' meme some week soon.

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    1. Du Rozzen is a newly released hybrid from Trewidden Kris. And it would be great to see you use Aeoniums in a vase arrangement one time, or two :)

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  4. Your aeoniums are beautiful and your idea about giving them instead of flowers is marvelous! Here, some florists are starting to use cut stems in mixed floral arrangements which is nice because one can simply save the succulents and throw them in a pot of soil...

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    1. Yep that's the best bit about using them Peter, they're so easy to reroot by simply doing just that :)

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  5. What a lovely bridal bouquet a big handful would make.

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  6. I love the 'rose' and Du Rozzen. Spotted the heater... would frost free be good enough?

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    1. I reckon so Jessica, kept above freezing and on the dry side. That's how we overwinter ours :)

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  7. I have a great Aeonium 'Schwarzkopf' at home and want to get a different one to go with it. Any recommendations? Helen

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    1. Hi Helen! Keeping with the purple theme you would probably love the large Voodoo and Poldark which remains compact and is not as prone on going leggy. For variegation Sunburst is great!

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  8. They have wonderful architectural form, I can see why people get a little obsessive about collecting them too, so many subtle variations. I like the idea of them being sold as gifts, it would be easy to package them beautifully with an attractive tag giving easy care instructions.

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    1. I can see too why it's so easy to get into them Janet. They do make nice gifts especially with fancy packaging and presentation.

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  9. Aeoniums are stunning. I love them since I learned they exist. You are right, they do look like flowers :)

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    1. Lots of them in your part of the world Lisa :)

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  10. I haven't any Aeoniums (Aeonia?) !!!

    Making a list.

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  11. What a beautiful collection of Aeoniiums! Love, love, love that variegated one

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    1. Sunburst isn't looking its best Deanne but last year it looked great. Ballerina is fab too!

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  12. Hello Mark and Gaz,

    We too are entranced by Aeoniums. They look spectacular in pots and yours seem to be thriving beautifully. Sadly, in our gardening days we rarely kept them alive for anything like a decent amount of time and so they proved to be expensive 'cut flowers'. But, you obviously have the knack of keeping them alive and they look exceedingly good. We are particularly fond of the dark leaved variants.

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    1. They make amazing plants for pots Jane and Lance. We manage to overwinter most of them fine but we do get a share of casualties too.

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  13. Gosh, I didn't realise what a huge variety is available, they are gorgeous! Love 'Sunburst' ! They must more than repay all the nurturing they get !

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    1. There are loads out there Jane, what I have is just a tiny fraction :) I saw some of the aeoniums you have in your garden, they look so good in your pots!

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  14. Oh, I love them too and just rescued a 'Voodoo' that was engulfed by a pelargonium. Nice collection! They are simply mesmerizing plants.

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    1. They are Denise, and I like how easy they are to propagate too!

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  15. Succulents are on my list of weird and wonderful. 'Sunburst' is fabulous!

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    1. In it's prime that Sunburst was my favourite Debs :)

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  16. Aeoniums are one of my favorite succulents as of late! Yours are great!

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  17. Those are so great looking. I'm assuming they are not hardy for me since I have not seen them for sale here. I would have some if so.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Not hardy Cher but they do make great houseplants in the winter too :)

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  18. Some lovely plants there Mark. Well -hardy or not they do make wonderful summer bedding and they are so prolific that there are always loads of new plants. It's just a bit too cold for them to survive in my part of the country without gallons of fleece so I grow them in shallow wide pots with Echeverias and other bits and pieces of tender things. A sort of miniature garden in a pot :-)

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    1. Just seen some nice, glazed shallow round bowls recently Don and might do the same, aeoniums mixed in with echeverias :)

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  19. I don't know if I'd be as enamored of them if they required so much babying each winter, but I agree they can be fabulous, and are exceptionally easy here in coastal California. I have about a 100 of the Aeonium 'Sunburst' bulking up at the moment, since they're just as popular here and I use them quite a bit in new garden designs. It's one of my favorites, along with nobile in full bloom.

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    1. That's a lot of Sunburst, I can imagine it must look spectacular having a large group of it! Nobile is a large beauty too and something I'm still on the look out for.

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