Then And Now: Sherman Gardens Succulent Tapestry/Succulent Coral Reef Garden

2017

The original Sherman Gardens "Coral Reef" Succulent post, from 2011, is one of the most viewed on this blog.  I've been meaning to get back to Sherman for an update and it finally happened last week.  It was time to see how the bed has evolved, not only because the original post's photos were on Photobucket, which recently decided it wanted considerable money for hosting photos:  $40 a month.  $400/year.  I'm not against paying for storage, but there are many far less expensive options.  Like, free.    

I updated that 2011 post with photos stored elsewhere.  

Since 2011 I've gotten a much better camera, my photo taking skills are, if not better, at least more practiced, and this incredible planter has changed somewhat.  I didn't get quite the identical shots on each visit, but let's compare what we can.

2011:

 2017:

Some plants have grown a lot.  The Furcrea has grow enormously, as has some of the bromileads.  Just beyond where the bromileads in the above photo are now, back in 2011 there was a large Dasylirion wheeleri.  That must have been a tough removal. 
2011: 

The bed is maybe 8-10' deep, and...40' long?  I should go back again and figure that out.  It's big.  


Extreme right corner, 2011:

 2017:  the silver dollar Crassula is about the same.  Different bromileads, and larger.                                              

A new variegated Agave attenuata, two new spiral Aloes.

A trio of aloes to the left of the huge bromilead, including a quite large A. dichotoma, and I didn't get a good shot of them.  Beyond that a pile of rocks crowned with Agave ovatifolia and an Aloe rubroviolacea.  Lots of rocks.  I'd forgotten the rocks.   The Agave ovatifolia replaces an Agave americana 'Medio Picta Alba'.  I see the advantage of the ovatifolia:  no dozens of offsets to remove.  Ovatifolia is solitary.  
2011:

2017:  The area seems to have been mounded higher with more stone.  A. ovatifolia is a shorter, wider grower than A. americana 'Medio Picta Alba'.  The temporary glass art-objects here, fine in other parts of the gardens, are distracting.  There is a visual overload without the glass!  More is too much. 

2017.  Aloe rubroviolacea is not labeled, but it has a distinctive look.  Dwarf hybrid aloes and Graptopetalums crammed in where they fit.

 Then a...an Aloe marlothii or ferox, I think, (another thing I didn't get a photo of), another big clump of bromilead, an Aloe plicatilis looking a little out-competed by its neighbors, and the big anchoring Furcraea on the left.  
2017:

 The foreground of the bed is a tight tapestry of small succulents and stones.  We'll go back to the other end...quite rocky...I realize now, looking harder, my knowledge a little more developed than it was in 2011, that carefully arranged rocks are key to this bed.  They provide visual relief, frames for many of the plants, a place to put feet for maintenance...

I did not get a photo of the very far end front in 2017  (spatial skills still lacking).  
2011:

 It's not much different in 2017 except the Furcraea is even larger, and Agave 'Stained Glass' is gone from the container. 


Now, some of the foreground of the bed.  This is the area to the right of the far end, in front of the Aloe dichotoma. The largest set-on edge stones, creating crevices, with Echeveria agavoides, a few Sempervivums (alpine succulents, tricky in our climate--easiest right along the coast):
 2011: 

 2011:

 2011:

 2011:

 The big difference I see in the foreground is the use of stone to create frames for the plants.  It likely makes maintenance a whole lot easier, and requires a few less plants.   There is also more of the same plant rather than a huge variety of different plants.    Graptopetalums, which have dormancy the opposite of Echeverias, and somewhat fussy Echeverias are gone, replaced by more maintainable species. 
 2017: 

 

  2017: In front of the Agave ovatifolia, just to the right of the above.  There are some small areas of colored glass as mulch. The glass colors look unnatural when juxtaposed with the natural stone and plants. 

2017:

 In front of the crowded Aloe plicatilis...red and blue glass there...jarring with the plants and the subdued natural color of the stone.  There's plenty of color and texture as it is.  
2017:

 Below and to the left a bit of the Furcraea, a sea of glaucous Echeverias and cool sandstone rocks
2017:

2017:

I miss the 'Stained Glass' Agave, but there isn't room for it with the Furcraea grown that large.  Still, it was such a beauty.  
2011:

 Still, years later, the bed is a fascinating, over-the-top, tour-de-force of succulent planting.