Succulents in the Garden--Part Two of Two.

During my last post I listed a bunch of Succulents that are currently calling "Mike's Apartment Backyard Garden" their home.  Today I'd like to finish off in the same vein.  There are still a few more things that haven't been discussed growing here right now.  Some of those things aren't quite as pleasant as the things I've been talking about in prior posts.

Gold Tooth Aloe potted with other succulents

Aloe Nobilis--Also known as "Gold Tooth Aloe", this specimen is easy to grow from Zone 9b on south, and can survive as an indoor plant further north when grown in a SE Window.  It is a sun lover--requiring little water (once a week at most--maybe twice during a HOT summer) and is extremely decorative and desirable all by itself or in a cactus type garden, much like I use it in my garden.  While not known as a medicinal plant like Aloe Vera, it is collected and prized more for it's lovely stalks of red flowers that attract hummingbirds in the mid to late spring.

Just discovered a new pup--now we DO need
a new home for this one!

 I used standard "Miracle Grow Cactus, Palm and Succulent Mix" for the little garden that I planted this in.  I set it in an area of the garden where it gets about 6 hours of sun daily, and the rest of the day in shade.  Those parts of the yard are difficult to find though, so you'll have to experiment for yourself to find a sun/shade mix that works well for your Aloe if you choose to buy this variety.  I'm lucky to have the shade of a 40 year old Juniper to use!

 I sure wish I had a photo to show you all what this looks like in bloom.  I do not have one though, as this particular plant has yet to bloom for me.  I suspect it will here in the next year.  Obviously, the little one that I have here (Okay, not so little at 7" tall) isn't particularly thrilled with it's current living arrangement.  The Haworthia has decided that it's taking over the pot and my poor Gold Tooth Aloe is leaning away from it in apparent desperation.  I think it's time to give him a new home, perhaps even by himself.

Well, that was the last of the actual favorable succulents here.  Now we need to discuss a variety of plants that can be quite aggressive and even invasive in outdoor gardens.  These varieties of succulents are known as Kalanchoe's and are currently one of the banes of my existence.

KALANCHOE

Kalanchoe comes in a myriad of varieties.  I've read that there are hundreds of varieties of this demon weed!  It IS a succulent and complies with the descriptive thicker, juicier leaves as is with other of the genus.  The leaves also appear to be wax coated and quite decorative and are, in their own ways, very endearing due to their ease of growth and their pretty flowers in the spring.  You may even be excited by the fact that it breeds easily, and even thrilled  at the idea of having lots of neat little plants (due to the insane reproductive nature of many varieties of Kalanchoe).  Don't be fooled.  It can become a bit overwhelming when the plants have been around for a while.

Not unlike Lily of the Valley, Bamboo, or even the hundred varieties of Mint, Kalanchoe is a dangerous plant with the potential to take over your entire garden area.  It is INVASIVE--so plant it sparingly if you are planting it into the ground directly, and be very cautious even when you are planting it in pots, as it can escape the boundaries that limit it's pot with ease.  If I can avoid it, I most likely will avoid all contact with any variety of this plant in the future, but for now I'm going to try to enjoy it, and share with you all my experiences and what all I've learned from my encounters with it.  Please take note of the dangers to wildlife and pets that I have learned over the past few months in relation to each of the three types that are currently growing in the garden.

Four of my five pots of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana--all from the
one plant given to my mother in 2012.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana-- (From Wikipedia) " Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a glabrous,^[11] bushy, evergreen and perennial succulent plant which (in 2–5 years)^[13] can reach an ultimate height of between 30–45 cm (12-18 in.)^[4] and an ultimate spread of between 10–50 cm (4-20 in.).^[13] K. blossfeldiana has a round habit and a moderate plant density; its growth rate has been described as 'slow'.^[2] The plant has green,^[13] shiny and textured glossy foliage^[4] which stays green all year round.^[13]The scallop-edged and ovate leaves leaves are arranged in an opposite/subopposite fashion, are simple in type with crenate margins and an oblong shape.^[2] The arrangement of the veins in a leaf (venation) can be absent or very hard to see; the leaf blades are 5–10 cm. (2-4 in.) long.^[2] K. blossfeldiana flowers in late autumn to early winter; each flower has four petals and can be one of a wide variety of colours, from the dark reds and pinks to oranges, golds and whites.^[4] The infloresences are born by peduncles which are higher up than the leaves and are terminal in nature.^[14]

Parts of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana are poisonous if ingested."

Closer shot--this will be replaced when I have a photo of plant
in flower.

When my Mom moved into the nursing home in October of 2012 she was often visited by the resident chaplain.  On one of his visits, he brought her one of these really pretty little plants and she delighted at the beautiful orange blossoms that it had on it.  While it was there I made sure it was given the best of care and it bloomed for the ENTIRE time (Eight full months) that she stayed in hospice care there. Everytime she would look at it her face would light up and she would tell me how pretty it looked, and it really did.  For that alone it will remain one of my very favorite plants.

After Mom passed in May of 2013, I took it home where it oddly began a very southward journey, to it's near death, in fact.  It quit blooming within a month after being here, and then after several months I noticed that the basic stalks of the plant were drying out and becoming brittle and hollow.  Knowing a bit about the species, I began plucking the living portions of the plant off, dipping them in rooting hormone and finally sticking them back into fresh potting soil.  The result is that I now have about six of these babies, although as of yet none of them have bloomed.  I will keep everyone posted on this.

Notice the reddish underside of the leaves.  It lines the leaf
edges as well, making for decorative foliage.

It's not such a bad thing that they havent' bloomed.  The foliage alone is actually very pretty on this Kalanchoe, being dark green on the top with reddish tinged tipps and lighter colored under leaves.  It IS decorative, even when the plant is not in bloom.  Right now I have all six of mine growing out of doors, a testament to the hardiness of this variety, the least aggressive of my Kalanchoe varieties.

These plants are often sold in stores during the autumn and winter months and I'll bet you'll even find one of them here in your local grocery store within the next 30 days if you look.

Kalanchoe Fedtschenko Variegata--(From Wikipedia) "Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi is a low-growing, frost-tender perennial succulent that prefers dry, open ground. It grows to 10–12 inches (25–30 cm) as an untidy, low, rounded herb. The stems are round, smooth and lax with visible leaf scars, often bending to touch the ground where they produce roots and a new plant. Leaves are simple, fleshy, alternate, blue-green and oval or obovate with fine scalloped edges, the edges may turn pink or red under strong sunlight or drought conditions. The tubular flowers are carried in corymbs, often multi-layered in good conditions. Each flower has a short calyx edged with delta-shaped segments, the calyx is shorter than the tubular corolla. The corolla is an orange/coral/apricot colour. The flowers hang down.^[6]
Commonly called ‘Lavender Scallops’ from the shape and colour of its leaves. It has few pests but may be susceptible to mealy bug or occasionally scale insects."

My partners boss gave me the original cuttings that I currently have of this plant.  I'd say that there were approximately 15 of them when I first got them.  They were ragged, beaten, flattened, and I didn't think that they were going to make it.  Oh boy was I wrong!!  Not only did it survive, it thrived.  I planted them in pots using good potting soil and was rewarded the following spring for my efforts with these beautiful orange, bell shaped flowers that hung like little chandaliers...how delightful!  

One of the two PIECES of this plant that I gave my Neighbor.
See how this one has spread...trying to take over!

But after they bloomed and the flowers died off, the plants didn't die back or become dormant.  In fact, they continued to grow until the plants fell out of the pots and began rooting into the actual sandy Texas soil.  These plants took over their pots and killed off the other Caladiums and annuals that I had planted in the pots with them, thus giving me a decided apathy toward the plant.  

The place in the Front yard where this Kalanchoe
variety spilled over and out of the pot--rooting
 itself into the grounddirectly.

Since it IS pretty in the spring when it blooms, I've decided to leave it to it's own devices in pots in the front yard where it's become rather bedraggled looking.  I've given pieces of it to neighbors (before I realized the hazards of it) and it's also growing wildly in their backyard now as well, unhindered she she chose to plant it in the ground.  Whether this monster will attempt to take over or not remains to be seen, but if it tries, it will have a formidable foe to contend with...the final variety of Kalanchoe currently invading the Backyard garden...Kalanchoe Delagoensis.

A K Delagoensis, or "Mother of Millions" plant
planted in ground in Blondmyk's Backyard
Garden

Kalanchoe Houghtonii--Aka 'The Chandelier Plant" or "Mother of Millions."-- (from Wikipedia)-- "Bryophyllum delagoense is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. In common with the other members of thegenus Bryophyllum, B. delagoense is notable for vegetatively growing small plantlets on the fringes of its leaves, leading to its common name mother of millions. Chandelier plant is an alternative common name.

The plant's capability for vegetative reproduction, its drought tolerance, and its popularity as a garden plant, have allowed the plant to become an invasive weed in places such as eastern Australia and many Pacific islands. In the Neotropics it even gets pollinated by hummingbirds on occasion.^[2]  As well as displacing native plants, B. delagoense is also unwelcome because it contains bufadienolide cardiac glycosides^[3] which can cause cardiac poisoning, particularly in grazing animals.^[4] During 1997, 125 head of cattle died after eating mother-of-millions on a travelling stock reserve near Moree, NSW.^[5]

Potted example of "Mother of Millions"

Because of the toxicity of this species and its hybrids, and especially of the flowers, it has been declared a noxious weed in many locations worldwide."

**Update--3/31/2015** --Since my original post of this plant I have been made aware of a possible misclassification/ID of this variety of Kalanchoe.  Apparently, this could well be a cross of Kalanchoe Delagoensis and Kalanchoe Diagremontiana. These two natural Kalanchoes have hybridized in the wild and have created a new variety that is named Kalanchoe Houghtonii.  This information comes to me from a plant aficionado that we will call "Frankie".  I thank you, Frankie, for bringing this to my attention.  It seems that this is a very common identification problem, as I checked multiple sources and spoke to several people for the original identification of this plant.***  

Given to me as a plantlet directly off of one of the leaves of my neighbors plant, I originally delighted in this varieties speed of growth and ingenious methods of reproduction.  Each and every leaf has the capability of producing 20-30 plants and when you top that off with the seeds that it produces at the end of it's life cycle, this single plant can be considered the plant worlds answer to the cockroach--IF YOU HAVE ONE, YOU HAVE MILLIONS OF THEM.

Weird "Woody" stems, great for
floral arrangements!

The up side of this is that the plant is quite beautiful in a rugged, desert landscape sort of way.  It's leaves are cupped, fat, and waxy like other succulents, with saw tooth jagged points on them (not sharp) that each produce what appears to be a tiny leaf.  Each of those tiny leaves are, in reality, a new plant developing.

An example of the invasive nature of "Mother
of Millions" plant. Once the plantlets on the
leaves hit the ground, you have a bed
of them started.

It can grow up to six to seven feet tall (in my experience) and often becomes so heavy that it collapses on itself or falls over.  That doesn't deter it from progressing though.  The stalks produce new roots in the sides that hit the ground, and the plant again begins to reach for the sun,  as shown in the photo provided above.  The ones we've had collapse here in the garden have also produced some really interesting shaped "woody" structures, also shown here in the photos.

Even potted this plant can multiply and kill any groupings
you may combine with it in a pot.  Here you see it with a
trailing purple Wandering Jew being virtually devoured.

At the end of it's life cycle it will produce a giant, umbrella shaped cap of the some of the most beautiful bell shaped flowers you'll ever see (thus the name Chandalier Plant) that will last for several months in the proper climate (I will produce photo when one comes available of blooms).  Down here in Corpus Christi, the last one i saw lasted for 4 months in bloom and was quite spectacular.  Of course, each of these blooms also produces seeds, thus providing the plant yet ANOTHER chance of propagation.

Well, here I end the rather LONG postings on Succulents growing in the Backyard Garden.  I hope you've taken some sort of wisdom from this, especially regarding Kalanchoe varieties.  Don't let these deter you from planting other succulents in the garden though, as Kalanchoe is only ONE variety of succulent.  Most varieties are even more beautiful and have no invasive tendencies al all!  Almost all of them grow with ease and with very little care...the perfect plants for the person on the go.

Until next time--HAPPY GARDENING EVERYONE!

Addendum--5-2015

I promised that I would show some photos of these "Mother of Millions" Kalanchoes when they went to bloom and I'm back to keep my promise.  Here are the blooms.  Is it any wonder why it's also called the "Chandelier Plant"?

Enjoy!!