Virginia is for Succulents
From the Staunton News Leader comes a recommendation that Virginia gardeneners plant more succulents.
You’ll find them peeking from the cracks in stone walls, decorating the corners of old barns, tumbling out of crumbling containers. Succulents grow just about anywhere and last just about forever, says Chris Lockhart, co-owner of the Staunton Plant Co.
The huge selection and easy maintenance of these sturdy plants makes them a good choice for Virginia gardeners, Lockhart said, since we have weather that’s often unreliable: cold, then hot; rainy then dry. He said one particular succulent is so hardy that it’s used for “green roofs.” The living roof absorbs water and also deflects the harsh son, while it flourishes and spreads in the blazing sun or bitter cold.
That is so true. I think he’s talking about all the different Sedums and Sempervivums that can survive on a roof in Virginia. But Staunton does get cold, regularly getting in the single digits and occasionally below 0F and about 40 inches of rain. So there are a lot of succulents that won’t survive there. Plus I would guess they’re pretty humid in the summer. In fact, I wonder which succulents besides the sedums and sempervivums that Chris is recommending? I should read further…. Clicking through to the 2nd page of the article leads me to his list. And in fact his list includes Sedums and Sempervivums and Portulacas, all fine choices.
Staunton seems like it could be a nice place, what with the cygnets being born there.
