Friday, June 25, 2010

Pot of Flapjacks

Our street side garden in SJC had a problem area in it where a large queen palm had been cut down prior to us living here. Palm tree stumps are very difficult to remove because you can't use a stump grinder on them, they have to be dug out which is quite a chore. Instead of removing it we incorporated it as a termination point for the gravel path. I looked for some sort of ornamentation to put on it for a long time, but never found anything that felt right. Last summer I bought this pot and asked my son to fill it with something dramatic and this is what I got. I love it! He filled it with kalanchoe thyrsiflora or what is commonly known as the flapjack plant. He then added some in the ground around it as if they has spilled over the sides. To add to the whimsy, there is one plant in the pot that has decided to bloom on it's own and if you look carefully you will see little "ears" sticking up from the mass planting. A year later this still looks as good as the day it was planted. The kalanchoe grows slowly and holds good color with the few hours of direct sun it gets in the morning. Of course being a succulent it is drought tolerent and almost carefree.

7 comments:

Ami said...

wow, what a gorgeous color of this plant. The red just looks so stunning in the middle of white gravel. Your son is quite talented to design this, especially with those in the ground to echo the ones in the pot. I need to go look for this plant now... :)

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

That is great. I must research to see if I can grow it.

danger garden said...

That's a great use of that plant! Are yours so bright year round or due they fade back to green/blue in the winter?

Chicken Boys said...

They are quite pretty. I've got morning glories I planted, and have grown up my back deck. They are about 10 feet high now. I just wish they'd start blooming already!
~Randy

Floridagirl said...

That is a really cool plant.

Lona said...

I have never saw this plant. How fantastic it looks.Now that was a wonderful idea your son had.

Pam/Digging said...

Fantastic focal point. Your son has your talent, I see.