Page 9 -

gardening

Our usual rainless four months of
winter have, I am told, been the

coldest in 10 years but this chilly

period has surely heralded the

dawn of a new garden fashion -

succulents.

Crassula Campfire's vivid leaves
lower beds in the garden estates they remain attractive and are so easily
of Gauteng were more colourful managed.
this winter than I have ever seen
Fthem - filled with a wondrous Linsay, my local nursery adviser over the
variety of plants that some of us did not years, says she waters her succulents only
know existed. when they show signs of wilting but, if
bY JAMES CLARKE, PICTURES bY MARY bROADLEY conditions are dry, fortnightly watering is
Plants that don’t need watering - well, at fine. Many succulent gardens are wrecked
least, not more than once a fortnight. by too much watering.

Beds are aflame with what I call ‘firesticks’ Another favourite among succulents is
though some prefer to call them ‘sticks spekboom (‘bacon bush’) with its sturdy
of fire’ or ‘red pencil plants’. These plants, stalks and small, round fleshy spring-green
Euphorbia tirucalli, can quickly grow to leaves. These are edible and many rural
seven metres, though most people prefer to dwellers eat them though mostly they feed Crassula’s winter flowers
keep them at shoulder height. They are very them to livestock.
easily controlled.
What surprised me this season was the
I have a striking 2m high patch of firesticks sheer variety of succulents and their colours
where, four months ago, there was (reds, blues, yellows, greys) and the simple but
absolutely nothing to excite the eye. How attractive patterns in which they can be arranged.
did I plant it? I cut off a 20cm stick from a
friend’s plant, stuck it in the ground and It is not just firesticks that turn a rich colour
leapt backwards. I’m kidding about having in winter. Another popular succulent is
to leap backwards, but their rate of growth ‘crassula campfire’ - an indigenous calf-
is phenomenal. high plant. Even when its winter rosiness
disappears it remains attractive with its
I was surprised to learn that they were propeller-shaped leaves. There are 200
indigenous to South Africa and somewhat different kinds of crassulas and one of
embarrassed that I’d never noticed them in our indigenous species, Crassula ovata,
the wild. They belong to the same genus as is popular as an indoor pot plant across Aloe arborescens – a popular succulent
the common, sometimes massive tree that Europe and America, where it is known
is reminiscent of a giant dark-green cactus: as the ‘jade plant’, ‘lucky plant’ or ‘money
the naboom (Euphorbia ingens). plant’. It comes in a variety of shapes and,
in winter, displays a mass of small pink or
Dire warnings are flying about regarding white star-shaped flowers.
the firestick’s milky latex. The latex is indeed
poisonous but I have found no record Crassulas are very hardy.
of anybody dying and although a pet or
two might have bitten into a branch with A popular species, this time from Central
distressing effects I have come across no America, is Echeveria, which grows in a
record of fatalities among animals. tight rosette whose spoon-shaped leaves
become colourful at the tips. These hand-
The latex is an extreme irritant; get some sized plants sprout tall red stems with a
in your eyes and, unless you immediately cascade of small lantern-shaped flowers.
wash your eyes with water, you might need According to one source, they prefer a
medical help. But then the sap of many ‘toasty garden bed’ yet they are thriving in
popular garden plants is just as toxic. Lilies my very new and very modest succulent
for instance, and hydrangeas, poinsettia, bed which is anything but toasty.
oleander, daffodils, foxgloves, elephant ear
and philodendron all fall into that category. This sudden succulent renaissance will no
doubt tempt people to start collecting
Once the weather warms up, firesticks and propagating the plants. There is
revert from being coral-coloured to green. such variety and they are so easy to grow
In fact, most of the succulents that are and I’ve enjoyed wandering around my
currently red will turn green in spring but neighbourhood picking up ideas. Linsay at The Farm Nursery in Fourways
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DPL