Almost done!

I was hoping to see some cacti.

That looks pretty cool! What are you going to be planting?

Lol, hence the almost done:-)

I have some small cactus that I can plant. Hoping to find something big that can survive northern Utah....

Zone 6A and a cactus garden? Other than Prickly Pear, what do you have in mind?

Nice cactus garden BTW.

Looks promising! Hope to see the updated photos soon! If you are able to make a gravelly slope somewhere there, you can also add Lewisia's It may not be a cacti but it sure loves rocky, well draining media and makes nice blooms too.

And hardy to my zone!! I have wanted to try them forever. Lovely plant. Now I have a good excuse. Easy to grow from seed?

Hi David, I have only tried Lewisias in containers, not from seed..I am always bad at seed level.

Andy, you can also add and try another alpine succulent to complement your garden - sempervivums. Though if they bloom it means it will be on its last phase, but it usually makes many offsets before it goes, or if you are good with seeds, harvest the seeds.

David,
A nice variegated Yucca would do nicely on the ends or even in one corner. Other larger cactus could be kept in pots planted pot and all then removed come fall into a cellar window for the winter. It's what I do with my agaves and euphorbias. It's a pain but what else could I do living in Zone 6 except move.
Stush

This is a photo I took at the Stanford Arizona cactus garden here in CA early this year: it would be nice to have this for sure, just be careful with those prickly glochids!

I tried this by mistake. I forgot to bring it in for the winter and it did live for two years. Then we had a really bad winter and it died.


Stush is right Yucca is a good plant for the cactus garden. I use it around the yellow blooming cactus.


A few more ideas......
To set off the red blooming succulents I use pottery broken up as ground cover and put a cactus in the some southwestern pots. Terracotta pots look good mixed in between the plants.

Stush2019 said:David,
A nice variegated Yucca would do nicely on the ends or even in one corner. Other larger cactus could be kept in pots planted pot and all then removed come fall into a cellar window for the winter. It's what I do with my agaves and euphorbias. It's a pain but what else could I do living in Zone 6 except move.
Stush

Good thought!!!! Yeah - I already lug in ~ 100 plants each winter. A few lovely cactus would be no big deal. I am SURE DW will understand.

Cinta said:
To set off the red blooming succulents I use pottery broken up as ground cover and put a cactus in the some southwestern pots. Terracotta pots look good mixed in between the plants.

Very pretty Cinta. You are feeding me with ideas. And I may not have to move the Yucca. I forgot that it threw off a pup - so I can just transplant that.

tarev said:Hi David, I have only tried Lewisias in containers, not from seed..I am always bad at seed level.

Wekk - my my mind is made up. Gonna find me some Lewisia seed and grow them over winter.

Ok David, I will watch you do it

Here is a photo of my Lewisia when it was in bloom last Spring.


It is always a struggle for me here after the cold season, don't know if it will come back, so far it looks more dead than alive right now..anyhow, I am not giving up hope yet. Maybe it needs to feel just a little more cool weather to get it going again.

Very lovely. I was just looking at Elise Lewisia. Blooms in 4 - 5 months from seed, no cold stratification needed and can bloom 4 times a year and is hardy in my zone. Not as pretty as some of them, but good enuff for me with those qualities.

My wife and I talked about this and we had this in a rock garden 25 + years ago. Her mind works better than mine.

David are you saying Elise Lewisia survived in your gardens before? I have never had any luck with them but if you have been able to get these to survive I will order some.

Cinta said:David are you saying Elise Lewisia survived in your gardens before? I have never had any luck with them but if you have been able to get these to survive I will order some.

My wife said as much about Lewisia. Not specifically Elise. She could not remember which we had grown - just some type of Lewisia in our rock garden. We had a smashing rock garden in New England. But then our entire garden was fabulous. Those were the days.

I was just saying I may order some - but maybe not if you cannot get them to survive. You are a zone warmer than me.

Tarev was trying to convince me to grow them again.

I have a credit on Santa Rosa and was thinking of using it to try them. Maybe I should use it on a tried and true success plant.

Just a small piece of information on Lewisia. A friend and I both tried it. She's in Texas and I'm in Oklahoma. Both places have months of high heat in the summer. She had success and I didn't. One of the big differences was location. She was in west Texas where it is dry heat and little rainfall. Here in my area, it's humid as heck all summer long (as well as hot). Don't get me wrong, as it surprised me that hers even survived the heat, but comparing climates that sticks out the most- dry versus humid heat. Mine was potted in commercial Miracle Gro potting mix and hers was in the ground in silty sandy soil. That probably also played a part in it's survival......Just for kicks here's a listing of a few of them from a well known mail order nursery in California - Annie's Annuals: .........Maryl
https://www.anniesannuals.com/...

Cinta said:

I have a credit on Santa Rosa and was thinking of using it to try them. Maybe I should use it on a tried and true success plant.

Santa Rosa has 50 % off now. I ordered another 9 plants from them. I got 2 hardy Agapanthus Blue Yonder from them 2 weeks ago. One looked marginal so I called and specifically mentioned ONE. 3 days later I got 2 more in the mail.
Planted today. Great to not have to lug em in and out which I have done for nearly 30 years with our tender ones.