Looking for great succulents for your garden? Plant aloes in well-draining soil and “they’ll soon become your favorite succulents,” says Bill Schnetz, one of Southern CA’s most sought-after landscape designers. Bill uses aloes of all sizes in mild-climate residential gardens. For a natural look, he suggests mixing one or two kinds with tough, drought-tolerant ornamental grasses [...]
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Aloes in Kelly Griffin’s Garden
December 6, 2014 – Posted in: SucculentsKelly Griffin is a succulent breeder for Altman Plants, the largest grower of succulents and cacti in the US. Kelly is renowned for his aloe hybrids—unusual and colorful succulents new to the nursery marketplace. In Kelly’s own garden are aloes yet to be introduced, that he’s experimenting with, growing for flowers so he can harvest the [...]
More Amazing Aloes: South Africa in San Diego
March 6, 2014 – Posted in: SucculentsThere’s a nursery near my home aptly named Desert Theater. It’s nine acres of big, bold, dramatic, over-the-top succulents and cacti. It’s one of the nurseries I enjoy taking people to, because they’re invariably amazed. It’s a photographer’s feast any day of the year, but my favorite time to go is mid-winter when large aloes [...]
Aloes Show Spectacular Flowers
January 20, 2014 – Posted in: SucculentsI love the way aloes brighten Southern California gardens this time of year. Shown above is the most widely grown aloe, Aloe arborescens. The location is about halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles, in Laguna Beach. This is an artist’s enclave, and not surprisingly, aloe flowers against blue sea and sky are a popular [...]
Behind the Scenes with my Succulents 2014 Calendar
December 6, 2013 – Posted in: SucculentsWhile compiling photos for my Succulents 2014 calendar, I looked back through hundreds of photos I’d taken in 2013. I evaluated them in terms of composition and how they might illustrate a specific month. For January, I think of aloes in bloom. But these photos say more to me than that. When I look at [...]