Succulent sale at Silverado through 2/5/11

This post is of interest mainly to Sacramento area gardeners. Silverado Silverado Building Materials & Nursery in Rancho Cordova is having a big sale on all kinds of things, including pottery, fountains, ornamental and fruit trees, roses, and succulents. Succulents in 1 gallon and larger containers are 40% off, 4" plants are $2, and 2" plants are $1. This sale runs through 2/5/11.

I went this morning and ended up with a bunch of stuff. Some succulents looked pretty sad (that might be the reason for the sale), but others were in decent shape. However, even the sad-looking ones should make a recovery once warmed weather sets in. Succulents are tough.

There were just a few agaves and aloes—and the requisite golden barrel cactus—but almost everything else was echeverias, sedums, crassulas and other members of the Crassulaceae family. A nice selection overall, but many plants either had no ID tags (especially the small 2" pots) or the wrong tags. Most people don’t really care what they get as long as it’s attractive to them, but I’m a stickler for correct labeling.

This kind of sale is worth going to if you’re designing mixed succulent bowls and need lots of plants, or if you are looking for smaller plants than are available in most nurseries. $1 for a 2" plant is a good price, especially considering how fast these grow. Potted now and watered and fertilized throughout the growing season, they’ll be a nice size by fall.

Here is my haul of the day:

110129_senecio-vitalis_04
Senecio vitalis, or narrow-leaf chalksticks, hardy to 25°F. More upright (and less blue) than the blue chalk fingers (Senecio mandraliscae) we have growing in our succulent beds. It’s a bit unkempt right now but once I’ve removed all the dead leaves, it will look great.

110129_sedum-pachyphyllum_04

Sedum pachyphyllum, or many fingers, hardy to 15°F. Definitely one of the “fleshiest” sedums I’ve seen. This plant is in a one-gallon container, and it was surprisingly (top) heavy—there is lots of water in these leaves!

110129_sedum-pachyphyllum_01
Closeup of Sedum pachyphyllum, If this plant hadn’t been tagged, I would never have guess that this is a sedum.
110129_Graptopetalum-paraguayense_01

Graptopetalum paraguayense or ghost plant, supposedly hardy to 5°F. Quite common in 3" or 4” containers, but this is the first time I’ve seen it as a gallon-sized plant. I could cut off each rosette and root it, and I’d have over a dozen individual plants! In addition, you can root each leaf individually. Truly one of the easiest succulents in terms of propagation.

110129_X-Graptoveria-'Opalina'_02
Labeled as Pachyphytum opalina, or opal moonstone. However, such a species doesn’t seem to exist. In all likelihood, this is x Graptoveria ‘Opalina’, a graptopetalum x echeveria hybrid.
Graptopetalum-amethystinum
Labeled as Graptopetalum amethystinum, or lavender pebbles. Not 100% sure about the ID because the color is too pink, but that might be because of the winter cold and/or growing conditions. Definitely very plump leaves that make the plant surprisingly heavy. A beautiful plant, and my favorite find of the day.

Now I need to figure out what to do with these plants and the ones I got from IKEA a couple of weeks ago

Comments

  1. Any cold-hardy Sempervivum at that sale?

    I've been reading "Hardy Succulents", and it's got me excited to try more of these this year. I'm going to be picking up several types of Sempervivum at the very least. The locally available specimens will all be unlabeled most likely, so I'll probably do some mail-order buying. Any suggestions for reputable sources?
    ___________________________________
    It's not work, it's gardening!

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  2. Alan, there were lots of sempervivums but none of them labeled. I was amazed to find out how many cultivars there are. Sempervivums multiply quite quickly so you need to buy just a few to start out with.

    Here's a place that specializes in sempervivums and sedums: Squaw Mountain Gardens. I've never bought from them before, but they get overwhelmingly positive reviews at Dave's Garden. Plus their selection is huge.

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  3. Thanks for the link! They've got just what I want: a "sampler" pack of 12 different species (labeled, but their choice), or a "super sampler" of 24 different species.

    This will save me a lot of time shopping around. =)
    ___________________________________
    It's not work, it's gardening!

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  4. Nice haul Gerhard! That Graptopetalum paraguayense is surprisingly hardy, it has sailed through unprotected in our garden down to -10C (14F) :)

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  5. Alan, excellent! The sampler is a great idea. Did you get the 12- of 24-species sampler?

    Mark and Gaz, thank you for confirming the cold-hardiness of Graptopetalum paraguayense. It doesn't take much to knock off a leaf so I'll put it somewhere where it won't be jostled. I knocked off five leaves yesterday just getting it home from the nursery and am hoping to root them.

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  6. Even though I can not purchase, I did like seeing the succulents. I just had a post with them and I agree, they do reproduce like rabbits. I am going to your link next click.

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  7. It's easy to knock off the leaves indeed, but even more ridiculously easy to re-root them :)All of the leaves that have fallen off and landed on the mulch of other plants have succesfully rooted and grown without any special treatment.

    BTW, I've bought the Yucca 'Banana Split' yesterday :)

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