Drought Tolerant Plants for Dry Gardens or Easy Houseplants Try Succulent Crassula Portulacea
Ξ May 18th, 2008 | → | ∇ landscape |
Succulent Drought Tolerant Plants for Dry Gardens and Easy Houseplants:
Crassula Portulacea Spoon Jade aka Gollum Plant is Easy to Grow
Succulents are great choices for dry gardens. These plants are
easy to grow in hot dry areas and also make great houseplants.
One of my favorites is named crassula
portulacea, commonly called Horseshoe or Spoon Jade.
Recently they’ve been called Gollum Fingers because their dark green
leaves look like fingers with reddish tips. These plants can take
full sun to light shade. They are happy indoors or outdoors.
Water-wise succulent plants like heat and sun whether you grow them
indoors or in the yard. They can take up to 6 hours of sun a
day. If they develop yellow or brown spots on the leaves, it
means they need a nice soak. Grown in pots they will remain small
and are often used for bonsai. They will grow slowly and can be
trimmed into the shape of trees. In the ground they will
eventually reach a height of 4 to 5 feet tall. Older plants take
on an otherworldly, gnarled look.
I love succulents because they are easy to grow and care- free.
They are great if you don’t have time to fuss over a plant.
Crassula happily oblige and even produce blooms in later winter.
They produce flower clusters that look like tiny bouquets of
daisies. Bloom color can range from light to dark pink, some have
a salmon/orange tint.
They are called succulent plants because they store their water in
their trunks and leaves. This allows them to get by with little
water. All that stored water can make them susceptible to rot if
they sit in a pool of wet dirt. Let the soil dry out between
watering to keep them happy. Crassula are best grown in USDA
Zones 9b - 11. Every year, mine are able to take a light frost
for a few hours. But I’d give them overhead protection in winter
if you are in a cold area.
Xeriscaping with drought tolerant cactus and succulents has become
popular out here in the southwest where we sometimes have water
rationing and shortages. I’ve got a little corner of the garden
which I’d like to look like an underwater grotto. That’s a tall
order here in Los Angeles we don’t get a lot of rain, so I’m planting
it with succulents. I think Neptune would be proud. These
succulents add a dramatic touch and look like some sort of sea plant or
coral to me. Crassula are and easy and reliable addition to any
water-wise garden.
Laura Zinkan is a busy single mom with a very small yard in
southern California so she expects a lot out of her plants. Laura
tends a gardening website at http://www.theGardenPages.com where you can read more growing tips and lore
about succulents and native plants, see photos and even download plant
wallpapers.
