June 2025 update on backyard succulent beds

Last fall I began to redo the side yard on the north side of our house. For far too long, it had been an unloved and neglected part of the backyard. But since real estate available for gardening is at a premium on our 8,100 sq. ft. lot, I finally got off my butt and began to dig in.

This post from early October shows you what the area looked like before, during, and immediately after I built the two new mounds. I’ve been making tweaks to both beds almost constantly, and it’s high time for an update.

Let’s start with the smaller mound. It, too, has evolved, but the changes aren’t as noticeable as they are in the larger mound, which we’ll get to in a minute.

October 8, 2024

In practically all of these photos, you’ll notice that both mounds, and the path between them, now have a layer of 5/16" red lava as a top dressing. Beyond that, there are more plants than back in October — not exactly a surprise considering a) how much I love plants, and b) how many plants I have waiting to go in the ground.

June 19, 2025

June 19, 2025

Lepidozamia peroffskyana is a palm-like cycad native to Eastern Australia. It has been doing beautifully in this large ceramic pot. It’s not a succulent, but it goes well with the succulents around it.

A few close-ups of notable plants:

Hechtia argentea

Agave petrophila

Agave cremnophila

Agave ‘Tidal Wave’, a Jeremy Spath hybrid (A. attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’ × A. titanota). When it grows up, it will look similar to this.

Dyckia ‘Black Sabertooth’

Dyckia ‘Tarzana’

Agave bovicornuta ‘Holstein’, a variegated sport of the cow horn agave found at San Marcos Growers

Agave ‘Baccarat’, originally thought to be a selection of A. montana, but more likely a hybrid with A. gentryi. I bought it in a 4" pot from Peacock Horticultural Nursery in August 2010. In other words, it’s taken 15 years (!) to get to this size. It is a beautiful plant, though, and well worth the wait.

Aloe ankoberensis from Ethiopia, still small but growing fairly quickly

Looking from the east fence towards the house. The mess along the side of the house will be cleaned up later in the summer when we’ll have new siding installed.

The plants in the next three photos are up against the east fence. They’ve been here for a number of years, but I want to include them in this post because they form the backdrop for the smaller succulent mound.

Beaucarnea recurvata, Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’, Aloe helenae

Aloe helenae, Agave geminiflora, and Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’ in the back

Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’. I bought it in May 2014 in a 15-gallon can; it was already 2 ft. wide then (see post here). Considering it’s 13-15 years old now, it imagine it will flower soon – and then die.

I wasn’t looking for another Agave ovatifolia ‘Vanzie’, but when I found this one in a batch of 5-gallon plants at a big box garden center, I had to grab it ($22.95!). The variegation isn’t pronounced, but it’s definitely there. It will eventually replace the ‘Vanzie’ above.

Moving on to the larger mound on the north side of the house, starting with a few potted plants:

Macrozamia macdonnellii, a tough cycad from Australia’s Northern Territory where it grows in hot and dry places in the MacDonnell Ranges. It’s perfectly suited for our climate, but it’s hard to find and larger specimens are very expensive. I’ve had this one for a number of years, and it’s still small.

Gasteria excelsa, one of the largest gasteria species, is perfectly happy in full sun. Behind it (top right) is a Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), which grows at a rate of about 1" a year.

Other potted plants include an Encephalartos ferox and Encephalartos msingianus × arenarius, both of which I got for under $20 years ago

What this mound looked like in early October 2024:

October 8, 2024

What it looks like now:

June 19, 2025

More details:

Clothesline and greenhouse beyond

The black racks against the fence are for plants that spend the winter in the greenhouse. In the summer, they live outside because it’s too hot in the greenhouse.

After I saw a bellflower (Campanula) in my friend Kyle’s garden, I decided to add a couple to the larger mound. They’ve been flowering profusely for weeks now. I couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

Campanula ‘Cariboo Forte Blue’ — weird name, I know...

...but a cool plant

The perennials in the larger mound (Salvia ‘Amethyst Lips’, Lavandula × intermedia ‘Phenomenal’, Penstemon heterophyllus ‘GMR White’, Penstemon ‘Red Rocks’, Agastache ‘Ambrosia’) have been stellar performers, adding much needed pops of color. They’re slowing down a bit now that we’re moving into summer, but I’m hoping for another wave of flowers in the fall.

A few plant close-ups:

Agave pablocarrilloi × isthmensis

Manfreda undulata ‘Cherry Chocolate Chip’ surrounded by Artemisia pedemontana, a low-growing wormwood from Italy that I’ve planted in multiple spots, both in the front and the backyard

Mangave ‘Frosted Jade’, a sport of ‘Frosted Elegance’

Agave parryi var. truncata ‘Orizaba’. This used to be rare as hen’s teeth (and correspondingly expensive), but thanks to the miracle of tissue culture, it’s now becoming more widely available and is much, much cheaper.

Echeveria inflorescence

Dudleya brittonii, with Dudleya cymosa on the right

Myriopteris (formerly Cheilanthes) covillei, a dryland fern native to the southwestern United States and Baja California

These potted cacti are part of my haul from my San Diego trip in April. They’re hanging out here for a little while until they’re big enough to be planted in the ground.

Of course the work I do doesn’t go unsupervised:

Stella making sure that everything is done properly

Always on duty

I like to add a bit of bone meal when I plant new plants, both in pots and in the ground, because it promotes healthy root growth. As it turns out, bone meal is to Stella what catnip is to cats. She has dug up several newly grounded plants and (probably definitely) eaten some of the bone meal. Google says bone meal isn’t inherently toxic to dogs, but ingesting large amounts can cause intestinal obstructions. Knowing how much she likes it, I won’t use it in the backyard anymore, only in areas she has no access to. (The same caution applies to blood meal, which I also use as an organic source of nitrogen.)

Being a garden supervisor makes you tired!

© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.