Thirsty? Not these Plants & their Friends

Up until recently, rainshowers have been few and far between this summer. It seems as though the rain has skirted around us, but we rarely find the clouds opening up and dropping buckets of water on our little plot.

And, you know what it means when there isn't any rain during these "dog days." While the plants and (surprisingly) the grass have held up pretty well, it's the container plants that insist on being hand-watered daily...lest they wither away. I think they actually wouldn't complain if I watered them twice a day during the dry periods.

Much to my relief, though, are the containers filled with succulents (and a few of their close friends) that are making my job a whole lot easier. They seem to shoot me a wink that says..."Not thirsty yet! We're doing fine."

I'm sorry to say that I don't know the names of most of these delightful succulents, but this container is one of my favorites. I love the soft green shades combined with splashes of cream and pink.

The foliage comes in so many different shapes...round and elongated or tiny and delicate...all waxy feeling and plump with water.

They don't even seem to mind being out in the full sun.

There are many varieties of aloes as I have recently discovered. The two pictured here are from my aunt's garden. The bottom plant is the steppable plant from my sister-in-law that I posted about in Summer up North.

Because these plants don't like wet feet, I plant them in terracotta pots, in the event we get a rainy spell...such as the one we've had the last few days. The pots absorb a lot of the water, and I don't have to worry about them getting waterlogged.





Here's a close-up look at the two aloes pictured above. One has more slender, solid-colored leaves, while the other has thicker spotted leaves. Both have a pretty good set of spines along the leaves.

This monster Aloe Vera is growing out of its pot, and it's also produced a number of outstanding blooms. The flower stalk is about 2 1/2 feet tall and is bending slightly from the weight of the soft peach and green-colored flowers. I grow these plants both in containers and in the ground.

Another sharp-sided succulent from my aunt...this one grows low to the ground and multiplies nicely. And, it produces a beautiful spike of yellow flowers in spring. My aunt lived in New Mexico before moving to Florida, and she's always had a small cactus and succulent garden.

This Wide Zebra Haworthia attenuata succulent is quite small.  The inside of the leaves are solid green, while the outside is covered with white stripes.

And, while this plant is not a succulent...it is worthy of mentioning because it, too, is not a thirsty plant. It can go for what seems like forever before showing any signs of stress. It's called Snake plant Sansevieria trifasciata...or more commonly...Mother-in-law's tongue (not the nicest name).