Potting Troughs - Part Two

I'm going crazy!

Ok, I admit it, I have a problem... I can't help it, I just can't stop playing with these amazing little succulents! Now that I've found a great source for hypertufa troughs, I just know it's going to get worse.


Not all the plant material I bought for the troughs are succulents, there's one or two other things I couldn't resist such as this dwarf Cotoneaster 'Strieb's Findling'.


There's also the Fiber optic grass (Isolepsis) that I can never resist even though it's not hardy here in my zone 6b garden.


Sedum nevii is another plant that I think I've bought before but I just had to try again.

One of my favorite (ok, that's silly, they're all my favorites) is this little Sempervivum 'Baronesse', just look at the webs!!!

Here's the first planted trough, isn't it sweet?

Here's another planted trough. This one looks a bit skimpy next to the first one but I've learned from past experience to leave some space for the semps to fill in.

This trough was planted up on Friday. I'm not sure yet about the Salvia lyrata 'Purple Knock-out' in the center of the trough. I hope they beef up quickly.

Under construction as I write this is a large shade trough. It's got a Hosta 'Pixie Power' slated for the center, and a teeny weeny Hosta 'Baby Tears' for the upper corner. I'm not sure about the rest of it though, I did get my hands on some amazing colored Ajuga's that might be perfect.

Sometimes it's the container that inspires me, other times it's the plant material. This combination of Cotula squalida 'Platt's Black' and Sempervivum 'Icicle' had me in rapture.


I didn't want to add a color that would take away from the two of them so I decided to go with some added textures. The Sedum nevii and the Fiber optic grass fill that slot nicely.

It's not planted yet, I'm not 100% sure on the fifth sempervivum. I have a bronze colored semp that I need to look for and try in this spot too. By the end of the day today though it will be decided and planted up.

The crazy thing? I spent all this money on these containers and plants and justified my purchase on the idea that I would sell them and make a profit. Now though I can't possibly imagine how I could let these go.

What do you think? Sell them? Make more of them? Cover my whole property with wonderfully delicious succulents?

I'll have to think this over, maybe if I walk around a few nurseries today I'll find some more...I mean I'll clear my mind and make a decision :-)

Going crazy,
Melanie