Goodies from friends, part 1

In the last few weeks I received plants from two generous gardening friends. Is there anything better than a living gift that brightens your garden and constantly reminds you of how wonderful friends are?

Today I want to show you the contents of a mystery box that arrived in the mail yesterday. It come from Laura Balaoro, the founder of the Succulent Fanatics group on Facebook. Inside were a variety of cuttings…

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Miscellaneous succulent cuttings

…and an entire plant. This one is very special. It’s a Dudleya virens ssp. hassei, also known as Catalina Island live-forever. It’s native to Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast where it forms mats several feet wide but only 6 inches tall. The flowers are white with yellow centers.

Catalina Island live-forever (Dudleya virens ssp. hassei)

I haven’t had much luck with dudleyas in the past because they don’t much like our summers, but I’ve learned my lesson and will keep this specimen away from the direct sun.

Catalina Island live-forever (Dudleya virens ssp. hassei)

Here are the other plants that Laura sent me:

Aloe ‘Christmas Carol’

Echeveria ‘Glitters’

Cape Blanco stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’)

Gold nugget iceplant (Delosperma congestum)

Mystery sedum. If anybody knows what species it is, please leave a comment below.

Laura’s box also contained four cuttings of Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’, one of my favorite aeoniums.

I put the Delosperma congestum in its own pot because it will go in the driveway succulent bed on the weekend. The other cuttings, and the Catalina Island live-forever, went in a shallow azalea-type pot. I quite like this impromptu arrangement!

I will overwinter the plants in this container and then plant them out in the spring.

Tomorrow I’ll show you what else I was given recently, this time by Candy ‘Sweetstuff’s Sassy Succulents’ Suter.