Can anybody relate to being THAT family? The family who everybody knows will be overjoyed with your unwanted ‘stuff’? As mentioned in previous posts, I’ve grown up as part of a real-life family of Wombles! It’s partly because we have a large shed for our plants and plenty of place for ‘stuff’! But it’s mostly down to the fact that my late Nan passed on to us her passion for recycling and re-using. I can’t count the amount of times I remember her saying “it will come in handy-one day”. Our cupboards were full of old ice cream tubs, elastic bands from the postman, wine bottle corks, jam jars, egg cartons… etc. It’s likely that this was a knock-on effect from war-time mentality, but she really couldn’t let anything go! Such a resourceful women.
There’s no doubting the fact that my mum is morphing into her with every day that goes by. As well as finding random uses for things around the house, my mum just can’t help herself from putting plants in things! No shoes are safe from a soil and plant filled ending here.
I thought I’d share with you a few of the DIY succulent terrarium projects that my mum has been busying herself with over the last 18 months.
The most recent is this beautiful glass fish we inherited from my son’s late Great Grandmother. His Nan knew immediately that we’d put this beautiful bit of glassware to good use. My mum didn’t think twice about filling the base of it with crushed shell and finding some off her pre-planted up succulents in shells we’d collected from our local beach. There really is something so sea-like about succulents. I don’t think any of these would look far displaced on a coral bed.
The sea-weed tentacles of the Crassula Muscoa ‘Watch-Chain’, the dainty ground-cover of the Sedum Dashyphylium resembling barnacles on a ship wreck and the shell shape and seaweed texture of the Adromischas Cooperi. Who’d have thought the view through a fish’s bum would be so beautiful!
When I have a place of my own, I’d love a sunny window-sill in my bathroom where I can display something like this!
This second arrangement was planted in August last year so I have some progress photos for this one. An unwanted fish tank soon to be transformed into another succulent sea-bed. My mum recalls posting this one on facebook and being offered another 4 old aquariums that evening! Something tells me there are lots of these tanks lying around in people’s sheds or store rooms.
I love the pachyphytum compactum in here growing alongside the Sedum Rubrotinctum ‘Jelly Bean’ like limpets or little Crustacean. The taller Crassula Capitella ‘Campfire’ and Crassula Tregona ‘Mini Pine Tree’ are now rising up as if floating in the water. The Crassula Ovata Gollum has to be the most coral like though. That tubular foliage!
This next image shows the growth difference in 8 months. apologies for the lighting difference, it’s very gloomy here in West Wales at the moment!
The final arrangement I want to show you is this old lava lamp. My sister-in-law gave it to us after it broke and my mum just loved the size of the hole in the top. She knew straight away she could get some plants in there. I swear this is her number one concern when receiving any new item, gift or ornament! Can it house a plant!? The show stopper in here is this Crassula Perforatta (Giant Form). I just love how it’s reached the top now with a flower popping out in the last few weeks!
I spoke to mum about her approach to watering these arrangements and she noted the difference between watering for growth and watering for maintenance. As the aim isn’t to have them grow big quickly, watering is very minimal.
Although the plants are developing in here, many of them are in a small shell where they’re starting to bonsai.
They get a spray every so often, mostly when the leaves are shrivelling a little and calling out for water. But mostly, they are left to their own devices.
We’d love to see some of your own succulent planting projects! If you’d be happy sharing this with us for our next newsletter, please email you pictures to corsesidenursery@btinternet.com
Tell your mum that they are lovely. My grandfather would make
gadgets out of any scrap materials. My own garage is crammed full of things that i may find a use for and i very often do.
Best wishes.
Michael.
Aww how fabulous! Yes I will tell her 🙂