Starting with Delosperma cooperi, a dense purple flowering iceplant hardy even in Denver, passing through images of tree Aloes like bainsii / barberae hardy only in the most frost-free zones of the inner Bay Area, and ending with a flourish of public and private - gardens, Sandoval gave the audience plenty of ideas for using these dramatic drought-tolerant plants in their gardens.
Gardens like that of Society member Kristin Yanker-Hansen and the Strybing Entry Garden have convinced many to modify the equation of succulents with a desert look. Travels in the native habitats of our favorite succulent species provide visions of epiphytic Echeverias and cactus, forest Beschornerias, Floridian Yuccas and coastal-scrub Dudleyas to prove the point that our gardens needn’t be mulched in decomposed granite to look great with succulents.
One cactus species that Sandoval showed prefers the shade of neighboring shrubs: a high elevation Echinopsis he caught bursting into redviolet bloom. If planted in full sun, it yellows and mopes. Many species of cactus collected in Chile and Argentina, some from the Andes, also prefer the coolness of coastal California. Some cool growing Echinopsis Trichocereus develop into Saguaro-like majesties at a much greater speed than that Arizona icon called Carnegiea gigantea, named for Andrew Carnegie, the American industrialist, and virtually impossible to grow north of the Tehachapis.
Intense foliar color in many species, from the silver of Agaves to the carmine of stressed Sedums, can render bloom a lagniappe. Cultivation conditions and seasons offer a changing display: A parched Aloe curls its black marginal spines together over brickred foliage, then swells out with the rains into spotted jade plumpness, from which spires of red arise, each tube changing to gold upon pollination.
Along with the flamboyant and intoxicating cactus flowers, the Aloe inflorescences outdo the visibility of colorful succulent foliage. Slide after Sandoval slide brought gasps from the audience. Chartreuse, pink, yellow, gold, bicolor, tricolor, spicate, candelabralike the range of Aloe flowers was rivaled only by the range of their vegetative forms. Clambering Aloe ciliaris, spiraling A. polyphylla a good bet for the coldest and coolest spots, scifi A. marlothii, towering A. barberae they fit whatever bill you may have.
Ernesto also opened up a small portal into the inner workings of his mind as regarding soil amending. When creating new planting beds he simply mounds the soil for added drainage, perhaps adding some gravel but never adding compost or other organic matter. Nonorganic amendments have the pleasant benefit of not decomposing over time allowing raised beds to remain raised over time, rather than slowly sinking to groundlevel as various things degrade.
The timing of this talk coincided perfectly with the Cactus & Succulent Sale the following weekend which gave many members the opportunity to try out some of the ideas.
Ernesto's Slide list and Gardens to Visit
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