Gardening Gone Wild » Succulents

Succulents Simplified – An Interview with Debra Lee Baldwin

Fran Sorin — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:14:58 +0000

Anyone who knows Debra Lee Baldwin is aware of her extraordinary prowess as an author, writer, photographer, and artist. As a co-contributor at Gardening Gone Wild for 4 plus years, I’ve had the good fortune to develop a professional relationship and friendship with her. Not only is Debra Lee all of the above, but she [...]

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Indoor Plant Decor Book and Giveaway

Debra Lee Baldwin — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:41:04 +0000

To celebrate the release of their new book Indoor Plant Decor, co-authors Jenny Peterson and Kylee Baumle are having an online celebration via GGW and several other garden blogs. GGW’s door prize is a $25 gift certificate to Logee’s, a mail-order source of rare and unusual plants. The photo above shows the book on my [...]

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The Birthplace of Better Homes & Gardens

Debra Lee Baldwin — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:00:41 +0000

James Baggett (right), the editor I freelance for at Country Gardens magazine, has long legs. Fortunately I do too, or I would have been running during a tour he gave of Meredith Corporation’s headquarters in Des Moines last week. There was a lot to see and not nearly enough time; the facility encompasses 180,000 square [...]

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Aeonium Flowers

Debra Lee Baldwin — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 09:19:05 +0000

When an aeonium elongates into bloom, you know the rosette is toast. But the flowers are spectacular. It’s a life lesson: Enjoy the moment. Beauty is fleeting. This is Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’. Fortunately, not all the rosettes on the plant bloom at once. Aeonium ‘Sunburst’ flowers are white, like the stripes on the leaves. It’s pretty [...]

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Robin’s Succulent Sphere

Debra Lee Baldwin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:36:11 +0000

Robin Stockwell (right), owner of Succulent Gardens Nursery, has a reputation of creating over-the-top displays for the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. Like two years ago, a cube house with succulent walls and a moat. Robin’s known for his vertical displays of succulents—entire panels consisting of little plants with different colored leaves. So take [...]

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Time to Celebrate Ice Plants!

Debra Lee Baldwin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:11:26 +0000

I showed this photo recently at one of my presentations. In the back of the room, a little girl stood on a chair to see better. I understood; as a child growing up in Southern CA, I also was captivated by brilliant ice plant blooms. Those colors! As blindingly bright as ever a flower could [...]

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Living Rocks (Pleiospilos nelii)

Debra Lee Baldwin — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:00:24 +0000

These odd little African succulents start out egg-shaped, then split open to reveal a smaller capsule that in turn splits open at right angles to the first. In spring, being ice plants, they produce neon-bright, multipetalled, daisylike flowers. Pleiospilos are tiny water tanks, accustomed to going months–even a year–without rainfall. They’re also impossible to pronounce, [...]

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South African Adventure

Debra Lee Baldwin — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 08:58:10 +0000

One of the great things about being a horticulturist specializing in succulents is that I’m part of a worldwide community of like-minded enthusiasts. Case in point is an email I received this week from Jeremy Proctor, who lives in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. He had visited South Africa and sent me a link to [...]

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Why I Love Ghost Plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense)

Debra Lee Baldwin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:30:26 +0000

Of all the succulents I grow, ghost plants are among the easiest and most remarkable. They are true survivors. Damaged stem? No problem. No water? The plant hunkers down and looks pretty much the same for months. Frost? It’s gotten down to 17 degrees in my garden, and the graptopetalums were fine. The common name [...]

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Warm Wishes from GGW

Debra Lee Baldwin — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 09:00:13 +0000

Nature is astonishing, isn’t it? How delightfully ironic that the flowers of many cacti resemble water lilies and the tops of some, snowflakes. Here are 18 examples to warm you this chilly season. Apologies to cactiphiles; I wasn’t able to identify all of them. If you would like to provide one or more IDs, please do! — [...]

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