@Eviesmummy. The blue tree is a Ceanothus. The bees love it! There are 2 in there, I planted them horizontally. Back in 2001 I think. When I built the rockery, I made a cottage garden, full of annuals and bulbs, perennial flowers and bushes like spiraea and flowering almonds. But the drought and high winds killed all but the hardiest. Oh and you know I didn't even think about putting semps into the crags until I saw that photo. What a great idea! It is north-northeast facing so it gets good sun but not that hot summer sun. I have a hibiscus tree growing that aspect and behind the wall is a Garraya which is spectacular.

Thanks @goldfinch4 - this forum has given me the inspiration to keep motivated (which I need). Everyone is so positive!

Patti thank you for the photos. It is so interesting to see how others grow their semps.
You have such a wonderful rock garden. I like your idea of planting in the crags of the rock wall, a little hanging garden.
Could you give us some close up photos of the yellow flowering succulent? How tall is it?

Patti, what a gorgeous place you have. You will soon have a semp haven. Looks like the perfect place for these plants as well as sedums. What a fabulous view. Is that a lake?

Thanks Patti, I've just googled Ceanothus and according to the RHS is should be hardy here with possibly a little frost protection/good positioning I'll definitely be incorporating some into my new garden, the colour is beautiful!!

Kate, Ceanothus should be more than hardy in your zone 9a.
I had it here for about 6 years, until I pruned it to harshly.

Bummer Lynn. Were you able to save it?

No, that is what I get for pruning to early in the year, and to drastically.
Patti was correct, the bees and butterflies absolutely loved it.

Lynn, my hubby went crazy with the pruning and almost killed my Ceanothus too! That is why the it is so woody underneath and I fear I only have one more season of it. But as long as it is flowering on top, it stays and after it goes am planting more its place. When the flowers die they create a layer of sparkly blue "snow" underneath. It's gorgeous.

Kate, my ceanothus never worried about frost and snow - we are under snow several times during winter up here. The type I have has very dark green and tough leaves. It's evergreen. See if you can find that one. You just need to keep the water up to it until it establishes and put it into rich but well draining soil to start it off.

Springcolor I am always on the hunt for hardy sedums. Not easy to find over here though. I would love to find a Sedum cauticola ‘Lidakense’ . Yes that's Lake Jindabyne and the Snow River. You're looking right at Mt. Kosciuszko.

Lynn here are closeups of the succulent. It propagates very fast from leaves or stems and creates aerial roots within days. It's cascading over boulders that are about 4ft high.

To Sunlover . In my neck of the woods we call Ceannothus " Californian Lilac " I had one in my garden for years before I downsized and moved into town . #bigmistake.
What a wonderful location you have and it's great to see you furthering the sempervivum cause down under ....
Mad jealous

Patti, your sedum looks a lot like this one.


Maybe @tarev can help us ID it.

Paddy that is a common name for ceanothus used here also. It is such a beautiful sight to see them growing in the wild in southern Oregon and northern California while traveling on HWY 5.

That is definitely it!! After 13.5 years it has a name

The one you posted in the terracotta pot looks like the one that grew *behind* the main plant. it has red margins whereas the main plant does not. Is that possible?

Yes, the red margins may or may not be present. The more sun, the more red margins. Does it die back during the winter?
Dendroideum is not suppose to be hardy in zone 7? What are your low temps during winter?

Hi Patti!

Your photo does look like my Sedum dendroideum. I think my plant just tend to grow tall, since it does not get a lot of full sun due to the tree canopy we have here during the warmer months. It loves lots of sun indeed.

Lynn, it never ever dies back. It has been exposed to the most extreme weather conditions. Winds over 100mph, heat over 105F, ember attack from bushfires, cold down to -10C, heavy frosts and snows, drought, flash floods (like we got yesterday) it is on the west-facing, totally exposed. The only part with red margins was a piece that broke off the main plant and established itself elsewhere in the rockery. I love it.

Hi @tarev It sure does love the sun. It's unbelieveable.

Wow, that is 14°F for us. I had no idea it could take temperatures that cold.

Before I knew anything about semps I planted these two within a few days of each other in early spring about 6ft apart. They both came from the same mother plant and were the same size when transplanted them. One was planted at the base of the rockery but in all day sun, getting a lot of water runoff from above it, the other same position but under the shade of my ceanothus, getting morning sun only. Same soil, same everything else. The difference is incredible. The little one hasn't grown at all while the big one is bigger than my opened hand.

Semps are amazing. The little guy didn't die when other plants would have, being so unhappy. It just seems to have tried to stretch out to find some more sun!

Little one was trying to stay small to look younger ...which it does!

What a dramatic difference. Which one was planted in the shade? The little one?
Seems like you have found exactly what your semps want for growing conditions. Great work Patti.

@webesemps Bev well it succeeded then because it completely paused the ageing process. Maybe I need to plant myself in the shade too! Poor little thing! Once this everlasting RAIN stops I will dig all of the little ones up and put them in the other area.

Yes @valleylynn Lynn yes the little one was in the shade. There are about 10 more of each of them and all the same difference in size. So the area I had planned to put the semps for some afternoon shade I guess not. I guess I will just leave that area to my snapdragons which is the only plant that seems to grow under that ceanothus.

Sorry you lost your Ceannothus Lynn, I've ordered a small plant from Ebay I hope I can get it to establish nicely in a year or two.