Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'

Sometimes called the "Pink Jelly Beans", this is one fantastic and easy to grow succulent. Succulent snobs (which, admit it, succulent snobs - "S.S." - describes some of us some of the time :[  ), ...S.S.s may tend to look down on easy plants like these, but it's our loss when we do. Have fun with them!

Around the Greenhouses

There's not much happening around the greenhouses yet, but even without flowers...

Again I haven't been posting much. We're still fighting colds, etc., and Lynn-Marie's arthritis in her hands is making it hard for her to work with the plants. As a result we will be winding down our internet nursery in the next several months. We will try to fill the backlog of orders as soon as we can, but it's going to be a slow process. By this summer we'll be switching over to an occasional email list of plants which are available for a limited time period.

I'll try to keep up with the blog as we move into Spring, but I'm also working on Lynn-Marie's online presence as an artist. I've be promising to get this done for a long time, so it really has to get done. I'll let you know when it's ready to go.

For now, then, just enjoy your plants!

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'

Sometimes called "Pink Jelly Beans", the color can be quite variable, but this is beyond the pale.

Random shots

For a little change-up tonight, this is a picture of some of our planting in the curbing strip (the street is on the left and the sidewalk on the right). In the lower right corner is one of the Opuntia humifusa plantings.

This area doesn't get a lot of sun because of the surrounding trees, so any cactus planting is a challenge. But we even have a Lobivia 'Glorious'  planted along here and it's survived 5 years through cold, wet and clay.

Fairy Garden

These are the shoes our two boys wore when they were little (now in their 40s). Each year they get a little more encrusted with lichens and fungi mixed in with the sempervivums and sedum. We call it our little fairy garden. (The dead evergreen pieces are from the coast redwood overhead.)

The photos were taken by Lynn-Marie.

Enjoy your plants!

Sedum flower

This sedum flower has been dominating one of our benches for a week or so. I'm not even sure which sedum it is, but right now it's a welcome early season flower.

And as far as the outside plants are concerned, Spring is definitely in the air..and the ground. The Snowdrops are beginning to show their heads, daffodils are breaking up through the soil, and of course the iris blades have been poking their way up for several weeks. It's definitely coming!

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'. You can't get much easier than this. It has beauty in simplicity and it's easy to grow to boot. What more do you want?
Oh, I know. When you've been around these plants as long as we have - growing them for over 40 years - you sometimes get a little jaded (an interesting use of words, and I'm sure confusing to the non-English speakers) with simple and "basic" succulent plants such as this. We want something more challenging!
I hope that doesn't represent my attitude, but I'm sure it does at times.
So, if for no more reason than to remind myself of a basic truth, let me state it again: Easy is good!

And speaking of being jaded, the wee Sedum is related to the Jade plant, both being members of the Crassulaceae family, but that's a very large family, with about 33 genera, of which Crassula and Sedum are just a couple.

A Simple Ensemble

A simple assemblage of plants, more or less thrown together over time, greet us on our patio area when we get up in the morning. Sometimes the best landscaping happens almost accidentally - though some thought went into this from time to time - mostly by Lynn-Marie.

Enjoy your plants.

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'

I've been too busy to take pictures lately so...I guess it's time for some re-runs. So, here goes!

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora' is a plant that I don't think gets enough attention as a decorative holiday accent. The common name, "Pink Jelly Beans", doesn't do them justice. They're an outstanding, easy to grow plant, which can be used effectively in a small dish garden on a windowsill, or as a temporary table centerpiece. They're a plant which seems to invite you to have some fun with them, arranging them with other small yellow or green succulents to great effect.

If this has been a holiday time wherever and whoever you are, I hope it was a good one, with an emphasis on the universal hope for peace, hope, joy and love.

Enjoy you plants!

Metolius River at Camp Sherman

This is "Off Topic Saturday" - at least for the next few minutes, when it turns to Sunday. This obviously is not cactus country, though some succulents grow not far from here...some Sedum in the lava beds. For those not familiar with the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and Oregon (pronounced OR-y-gun) in particular, we're blessed with a wide variety of climate zones: From the West we begin with the coastal headwaters and the coast range of mountains, some parts of which are temperate rain forests. Next is the Willamette Valley - pronounced Will-AM-et. That's where live - in Portland at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. This area is mild with moderate rainfall, with by far the majority falling in the Winter. Then the Cascade Mountain Range, with a series of volcanic peaks, separates us from Central and Eastern Oregon, mostly high desert.

This picture is from Central Oregon on the Eastern flank of the Cascades. Just a couple of miles from this location, the Metolius River appears - full-size - from underground streams. This is at Camp Sherman which has a country store and cottages - and beautiful scenery. About 45 miles to the east and there is habitat for Pediocactus simpsonii var. robustior and further east are various Lewisias. Various Sedums are found in the lava beds, along the cliffs in the Columbia River Gorge and the cliffs along the Oregon coast.

But here - at Camp Sherman - is serenity, peace, and respite from all the rush. In fact, we may just pick up and head over there next week...

And now it's early Sunday so off to some midnight respite. Back at you with cacti and succulents tomorrow!

Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora'

I've always liked these little jewels. Lynn-Marie's been growing them on for quite a while now and we'll probably list them eventually. But no matter what, I love their colorful, plump little fingers.
The normal form of this plant is sometimes called "Pork & Beans"; no Pork and Beans here! These are called "Jelly Beans" by some, but in my humble opinion, none of the "common" names do them justice.

Again, it's time for the magnifying glass. These aren't expensive rarities, but they can give as much enjoyment as the most expensive and rare plant.