Succulents and More™

For a while now, I’ve been noticing that the succulents in this planter are losing leaves at an alarming rate: What used to be a relatively lush grouping of sedums, aeoniums, and friends has become a place of sadness: My once proud Aeonium ‘Sunburst’ reduced to nubbins: I’d been putting the blame on rats because, well, because they’re my go-to scapegoats and always up to no good. But I was wrong. I finally caught the culprit in the act: Here it is, merrily chewing on a Senecio ‘Skyscraper’: It stopped momentarily when it saw me, but then it continued nibbling with no care in the world. Only when I got to within three feet did it scamper away. Here’s what’s left of Senecio ‘Skyscraper’: None of the succulents in this planter are irreplaceable so I’m letting the squirrels do their thing. I figure they need to fatten up now in preparation for winter. And I won’t apologize to the rats — I’m sure they’re responsible for something . © Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive a...

Yucca rostrata , or the beaked yucca as they call it in its native Texas, is one of my favorite large landscape succulents. It’s easy to see why: Yucca rostrata at Tucson Botanical Garden Its thick trunk topped with one or more perfectly symmetrical pom-poms of silvery blue leaves makes it a stunning focal point. In addition, it’s super tough: It can withstand intense summer heat and survive temperatures as low as 0°F. Yucca rostrata at the Ruth Bancroft Garden (December 2021) Mature Yucca rostrata at Poots Cactus Nursery John Kuzma’s and Kathleen Halme’s garden in Portland Even smaller specimens with little visible trunk are highly architectural, as seen here in a commercial landscape in Irvine, California The only maddening thing about Yucca rostrata is its speed of growth. Or rather, lack of it. Even under ideal conditions — lots of heat and regular summer water — it takes 10+ years for it to reach its mature height of 10-15 feet. This also means that larger, more mature specim...

Landscape designer Mat McGrath of Farallon Gardens and his wife Mali have created their own exotic paradise in the small East Bay town of Rodeo . I’ve been following and documenting their progress over the last two years ( June 2023 | October 2024 | May 2025 ) and have been astounded at how quickly the plantings have matured. A quick recap: When Mat and Mali bought their 14,000 sq. ft. property in the fall of 2021, it was a blank slate: some lawn and lots of bark mulch and dry grass. In seemingly no time, they transformed it into a one-of-a-kind oasis that is as vibrant as it is ever-changing. ( Start here if you want to see how it all began.) A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity for a quick stop to see how the garden is doing. It had just finished raining when we pulled up. Mat was out there weeding. Never a moment’s rest for the gardener, right? Mat’s garden is impossible to shoehorn into any one category. There are agaves, aloes, and cacti. Aeoniums, crassulas, and echeverias....