Old Newsletters 7

Succulent Extravaganza Line-Up Takes Shape

Exciting tours, speakers, and table presentations on tap
Randy
Randy Baldwin from San Marcos Growers, one of the Key Speakers from last year's Succulent Extravaganza.
Here it is: the speaker line-up for the 2012 Succulent Extravaganza! At this time, only one of the speakers has a definitive title for the talk, but they all come with a wealth of experience, oodles of talent, and a willingness to share. When you look at the speaker list, you might notice I am not on it. You may be thinking:The late September swell will just be starting to fill in. Hmmmm, I wonder if Robin is keeping his (surfing) options open? Actually, I will be there, and hope to lead some random tours of my own throughout the program.

We learned a few things from last year's event and will hopefully do a good job incorporating what we learned. If you have any suggestions from your last year's experience, please pass them along to info@sgplants.com. One thing I will be doing is allowing a bit more time between speakers for folks to wander, use the facilities, or just chill.

band
Fun was had by all, due to great entertainment!

Along with the speakers, there will be a Friday afternoon bar-b-que, much like last year's. We will also have the local taco vendor selling its scrumptious and inexpensive tacos throughout the day on both Friday and Saturday.

Volunteers
We are once again accepting volunteers from Monterey Bay Master Gardeners, as well as some volunteers who are not members. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Tiffany at info@sgplants.com

Musicians
If you are a talented musician, or part of a group who would want to volunteer to entertain, please email us so that we can check you out to see if you would be a good fit.

Table Presentations
We will be adding a few more fun and interesting tables to our line up as the time approaches. I will also be assigning time slots and titles to our speakers presentations in the next mailing.

Come Join Us!

For now, I hope this sounds as exciting to you as it does to me. I've had a lot of time to think about and plan this year's event and feel there is an incredible amount of valuable information that will come out of this year's Extravaganza. If I were to suggest a theme to this year's event, it would be Functionality with Succulent Plants - in so many ways.

Hours
Friday 9am-4pm, Bar-b-que 4pm-6pm
Saturday 9am-4pm

brian
Brian Kemble leads a tour.

 



Speaker Lineup

Friday

Brian Kemble
Back by popular demand, Brian will again lead early morning tours of the gardens and share his vast experience of succulent plants while walking around the nursery.

David Leroy
I first met David about 9 years ago when he operated his own business in Santa Cruz as a landscape contractor. David joined forces with the well known and respected landscape firm of Bernard Trainor and Associates.

David has worked with succulent plants in the landscape for many years and his work with succulent plants was the subject of a recent New York Times article. David will be speaking about issues related to working with succulent plants in the landscape.

Flora Grubb
Flora operates one of California's coolest and most forward thinking retail nurseries. Flora is a trendsetter who will share her thoughts about succulents in the landscape and design.

Debra Lee Baldwin
Debra is back by popular demand. As many know, Debra is the author of two best selling garden books on succulent plants: Designing with Succulents and Container Gardening with Succulents. Debra has a new book coming out and she will let us know a little about what to expect. She will also be discussing some of the latest trends with succulent plants, including her view of incorporating succulent plants with traditional plant material.

Baylor Chapman from Lila B Design
Just go to Baylor's website and you are immediately struck by the creative talent of Baylor and her associates. Baylor will be sharing her vision and techniques of floral design working with succulents and traditional flowers and foliage. I plan to turn Baylor loose to choose the succulents to use in some of the work she will be demonstrating.

shopping
This year: More time for shopping! We've added more time in between the presentations scheduled.

Saturday

Brian Kemble Tours

Jarrod Bauman
Jarrod is another repeat presenter. Last year Jarrod wanted to create and demonstrate his idea of a vertical garden using succulent plants and who knows what else? He did not have the time to prepare for that presentation, so I asked him then to spend the year getting ready. I am really looking forward to seeing what this very talented and good looking, per last year's attendee feedback, landscape architect is going to come up with.

Debra Lee Baldwin

Casey Lyon
Casey has his own landscape firm in Monterey, CA, and has been working with rooftop gardens and succulent plants since the rooftop garden gained popularity a number of years ago. Casey also played water polo with my oldest son at Cal Ploy, San Luis Obispo, and was a force to take seriously. Casey will be showing us what is involved in creating a successful rooftop garden through photos of his work and a discussion of the techniques involved.

Rebecca Sweet
Rebecca is a prolific writer, blogger, and landscape designer whose incorporation of succulents into her designs is inspirational. The title of her talk, "Harmony in the Garden - incorporating succulents into everyday gardens," pretty much says it all. I have visited Rebecca's home several times, and each time I have been intrigued and excited by the way in which her garden is full of little secrets that inspire the imagination.


Table Presentations

Dig Gardens
Cara and her team from Santa Cruz's latest avant-garde retailer will be demonstrating the simplicity and fun of working with Hyper-Tufa.


Monterey Bay Cactus and Succulent Society
The folks from the local succulent society will have a table set up to explain the benefits of participating in their organization. There is a wealth of information to be had from the people in the trenches of succulent enthusiasm at the local, national, and even international levels. I have found all of these folks to be generous with both information and plants and am happy to have them joining us this year.

robin-gazebo
Robin Speaks! (Last year.) This year he will be leading random tours throughout the weekend.
Plant of the Month: Aloe striatula

Aloe striatula is a tough landscape succulent that blooms with clockwork precision in early summer, from June to July. What is unique about the Aloe striatula shown in this photo is the flower color. Aloe striatula is typically a yellow flowering plant. We have been building stock on an orange flowering form and now have both available.

aloe2

Both plants grow to about 5 feet as a dense shrub. They are quite hardy, unfazed by temperatures as low as 20 degrees F. They will grow in shade as well as full sun, though they flower better in a sunnier spot.

aloe1



Retail Details: Pretty Pots

quail-pot
Summer is here and lots of exciting things are going on at Succulent Gardens! We recently received an order of pots from Southern California.

For those of you who visited us in Carmel you will remember them well: sea otters, quail, and more. This time we also ordered the Liberty Bell pots, which are beautiful!

These pots are perfect for succulents and reasonably priced to boot! We have an assortment of glazed and unglazed Terra Cotta pots.

If you haven't been out to the nursery in a while, stop by!

Happy Summer~
Tiffany

 


Visit the Nursery!


Retail: Tuesday - Saturday 9-4
Wholesale: Monday - Saturday 8-4

We always look forward to seeing you, so come when you can! Feel free to check in with us before your visit, by calling or dropping us a line! info@sgplants.com


Don't Wait: Visit Now!

Sure, you could wait for Extravaganza, but then you'd miss this:

Aloe distans 1
Our Aloe distans plants are putting on a great show right now!
I am just smitten with the flowers of Aloe distans. I tried so hard to be my friend Sara Shoemaker behind the camera and didn't even come close! The flowers from Aloe distans always captivate me.
This afternoon Tiffany came looking for me with a message and said, " I thought I would find you with your camera shooting photos." I'm certain Aloe distans graced the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
These gorgeous plants are blooming now with a backdrop of Aloe polyphylla and Aloe Hercules. We invite you to come on down and take a look for yourself. Bring your camera!
Grower Tip: Moving Plants Outside

When moving plants outdoors from inside a house, or even from inside a greenhouse setting, it is a good idea to give them time to acclimatize before full exposure to the sun and elements.

Shade Cloth

When we move plants from the greenhouse to the full sun, we throw a piece of shade cloth (50%) over the plants for about 10 days. Similarly, moving plants from the house requires some transition time. Place the plants being moved under a tree or on a protected porch for a period of time before moving them to a sunnier environment. Doing this will help keep the plants from getting scorched.