Garden Photo of the Day

READER PHOTOS! Michelle's containers in California

comments (11) June 26th, 2012 in blogs

Michelle Gervais, Senior Editor

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Aechmea Aztec Gold (in the bromeliad family) and sedums (succulents). Using cuttings to create container vignettes--Less money, more plants !
2 WAYS TO ENLARGE! Click directly on the photo to enlarge in a pop-up, or click HERE to see this image, larger, in a new browser window

Bromeliad and a variety of succulents (aeoniums, sedums) The bromeliad came from the San Francisco Bromeliad Club raffle table and the succulents were from cuttings from the garden. 2 WAYS TO ENLARGE! Click directly on the photo to enlarge in a pop-up, or click HERE to see this image, larger, in a new browser window

Achemea Wes Schilling and Aeonium Sunburst 2 WAYS TO ENLARGE! Click directly on the photo to enlarge in a pop-up, or click HERE to see this image, larger, in a new browser window

Succulents--Aeoniums and echeverias. All were cuttings.
2 WAYS TO ENLARGE! Click directly on the photo to enlarge in a pop-up, or click HERE to see this image, larger, in a new browser window

Aechmea 'Aztec Gold' (in the bromeliad family) and sedums (succulents). Using cuttings to create container vignettes--Less money, more plants !

2 WAYS TO ENLARGE! Click directly on the photo to enlarge in a pop-up, or click HERE to see this image, larger, in a new browser window

Photo: Courtesy of Michelle Derviss

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Today's photos are from Michelle Derviss in Novato, California. Michelle is one of my very favorite garden designers--I love her style, and she's a super-cool person, too! She sent these photos in to me last week just for the heck of it, and I begged her to let me post them. She says, "I've been a member of the San Francisco Bromeliad Society for several years. Like many garden clubs, we meet once a month and have a rousing plant swap, a plant raffle table, and a guest speaker. I have built my collection of bromeliads from the generosity of other bromeliad club members who have divided and propagated their plants by seed. I have paired some of my bromeliads with succulents. Together, the two distinctively different families of plants make a good marriage due to their similar water, light, and temperature needs.
Most of the succulents that I used in these pots are from garden cuttings. I like the ease of simply taking a cutting, waiting a day or so for the cutting to heal over, and then poking it into the soil. Truth be told, sometimes I don't even wait for the cut to heal over and stick the cutting directly in the soil, and I have rarely lost a plant. I feel the strong upright strappy forms of the bromeliads lend themselves well to the rounded shapes and colors of the succulents." Slick and stylish, Michelle. I already think succulents are amazing. Now I need to give bromeliads a second look.

****Check out Michelle's gorgeous blog, Garden Porn****

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posted in: california, containers

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Comments (11)

Deziner writes: A big thank you to all that took the time to comment. I appreciate the kind words.
And to Michelle Gervais at Fine Gardening, thanks for your support and generous spirit.
To rion, who asked about the 'pot head' planter. I take a relaxing evening ceramics class at my local community college and made this pot head planter a year or so ago.
It's a fun way to spend the evening and every now and then I make something that doesn't expode in the kiln firing !

Again, thanks for all your kind words. Gardeners are the nicest people. Posted: 11:27 pm on June 26th

TeriCA writes: Thank you so much to both Michelle's!!! I was wondering what extraordinary thing we could do with my client's backyard pots. Now I know!!! Posted: 10:51 pm on June 26th

PerenniallyCrazy writes: Bromeliads and succulents are a match made in heaven. Bromeliads make stunning thrillers in these containers. I so love this post - fabulous colors, textures and composition. Thank you for sharing and looking forward to seeing more of Michelle's creations for I am certain there are more. Posted: 9:35 pm on June 26th

sheilaschultz writes: I've loved Michelle's designs for quite a while now, she is so talented. As a matter of fact I copied one this year, it is beautifully simple... Aeonium Zwartkop, Parrot's beak and Panda Plant. Thanks Michelle! Posted: 10:50 am on June 26th

rion writes: I love your containers! I would sure like to find something similiar to the woman's head container. Can you say where you found her? :-] Posted: 10:09 am on June 26th

Vojt writes: So floral, and not a flower in sight! A delightful combination of textures and colors. I am with Annek regarding the blog name. That's what my wife calls my online plant shopping and perusing...Very similar the the California gardeners that call themselves 'hortisexuals'! Posted: 8:20 am on June 26th

tractor1 writes:

Succulents and bromiliads are some of my favorite plants, I think because they are the ancients, like my ginkgos and dawn redwoods. I used to have a collection of potted plants, I like cacti too, but alas I can no longer have them with cats. Michelle's arrangents are lovely, I especially like that last one. Thank you for sharing.

Posted: 7:26 am on June 26th

Annek writes: So imaginative! I'm going out this morning to play with the succulents. (Enjoyed the name of your 'Garden Porn' blog...my husband teases me about having 'plant sex' whenever I spend time in my garden) Posted: 7:24 am on June 26th

cwheat000 writes: You are truely talented, Michelle. Any of theses containers could win the Fine Gardening container photo contest. I hope you have entered. Posted: 7:18 am on June 26th

meander1 writes: These definitely evoke a smile of delight. They provide lots of textual interest and, in their subtle way, invite a closer look. I didn't realize the secret behind rooting succulents...certainly sounds easy peasy and I have no excuse not to give it a try. I recently stopped in a local nursery and they had a wonderful display of succulent crammed containers for sale. The fun part was that there was no duplication of container or arrangement. They ranged from a dainty teacup to a galvanized metal horse trough. Someone on the staff had a lot of fun shopping at yard sales and estate auctions and snapping up anything cheap that could have a drainage hole drilled in it and hold soil. Posted: 6:29 am on June 26th

Deanneart writes: These are really great! Nice combinations Posted: 6:14 am on June 26th

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