Garden Centre

Sunday, August 31, 2008

I say House Leek, you say succulent

An American visitor looked deeply puzzled when I showed her my sink garden filled with House Leeks. “Those are leeks?” she said. “I thought leeks were kind of … oniony.”

Two gardeners divided by a common language.

Once we’d cleared up the confusion, she was full of admiration in which I basked, although I shouldn’t have, as succulents are one of the easiest things to grow. Within two years of planting a succulent garden it can look as if it has been there for decades – it’s an instant ‘heritage’ item in any garden. Not only that, but if you have a green roof it’s sedums that make it attractive, and the ground level equivalent of sedums is succulents, easy to grow, maintenance free and good-looking all year round.

There’s a belief that succulents must be grown alone, but it’s not true, you can mix them with both perennials and annuals – they are particularly well complemented by salvias, primroses and penstemons. And although the vast majority of succulents delight in full sun and tolerate low humidity through to outright drought, there are a few that are adapted to shady conditions, so nobody has to live without succulents, or – as I prefer to say – house leeks!

Labels: house leeks, sink garden, succulents

The All Seasons Gardener at 1:09 PM

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