- In the Willamette Valley, they will flourish in zones 7b (5F to 10F), 8a (10F to 15F), and 8b (15F to 20F). In zone 4b, many can flourish.
- The plant can endure our extremely rainy and chilly winters as well as the early spring weather.
- Types of soil: The plant will perish if the soil is not quick draining because of our winter and spring rains. To keep the plant leaves up off the soggy soil, it also helps to have a nice thick layer of grit, gravel, or pumice under them. They can all be used, but the clay needs to be changed to improve drainage.
- Create berms or raised beds with adequate soil, add compost, or use clay.
- Sandy loam quickly drains and supplies succulents and their companion plants with a wealth of nutrients.
- Just keep in mind that it must have rapid drainage otherwise the plant may decay from our winter and spring rains. To keep the plant leaves up off the soggy soil, it also helps to have a nice thick layer of grit, gravel, or pumice under them.
- Use high-quality potting mixes in your containers, then mix one part pumice (or more) into each. It is better to use pumice. Also excellent for use as top dressing.
Sempervivum
One of the strongest succulents that can grow in zone 4a. They come in sizes ranging from one-fourth of an inch across to twelve inches across. They come in a variety of hues and textures. There are several options available.
- Rosettes that produce offsets from stolons are called sempervivum. comes in a variety of shapes, including velvety leaves, arachnoideum (webbing), and smooth leaves. Star-shaped blooms in red, pink, cream, and white are available.
- The stolons of S. globiferum, which create offsets by breaking and rolling away from the parent plant, are small and weak. Thus, Roller’s moniker. Campanulate blooms come in a variety of colors, from yellow to almost-white cream.
- From the same crown as the parent rosette, S. heuffelii creates additional rosettes. Campanulate, almost-white, yellow to cream-colored blooms are produced.
- Other succulents that thrive in our growing circumstances and meet the similar needs as sempervivum include Orostachys and Rosularia.
Sedum
- Sedum are widely distributed and include the following species: album, dasyphylum, divergens, spathulifolium, kimnachii, laxum, oreganum, and many more. There are too many to list; enjoy your treasure hunting.
- Rhodiola, Phediumus, Petrosedum, and Hylotelephium. Many have previously been categorized as Sedum.
Delosperma
- D. cooperii is a robust plant that blooms from spring until the first deadly frost.
- While not as aggressive, D. “Blut” is fairly comparable.
- D. ‘Jewel of Desert Grenade’ blooms till the first frost and grows slowly.
- D. davyi is a favorite because of its gorgeous black leaf color that serves as a backdrop to delicate white blooms in the spring. If happy, it will bloom again.
More hardy type succulents
- the calcynius fermaranthus
- The setulosa crassula
- Jamesii Bergeranthus
- ‘Elise’ Lewisia
- (Montipisis umbelleta)
- Aizoon Prometheum
- P. pilosum P. chrysanthum
- Pachychlados Rhodiola
Succulents flourish in Oregon, but how?
Numerous cacti and succulents can withstand the climate here, but the wetness is the difficulty. When it stays on the roots of these plants, rain and snow swiftly destroy them.
Local gardeners advise preparing a quick-draining combination in the top 3 feet (0.91 m) of soil in your garden bed. Your succulent plants cannot have their roots in water at this depth due to amended soil. After you’ve planted your succulents, top them over with extra gravel.
The plants require soil that has been improved with pumice, crushed stone, or other things to make it drain rapidly and enable air circulation. For further protection, pile these things up around your plants.
Start by growing delosperma, sedums, and sempervivums in this area. Investigate additional species that are reputed to flourish nearby. Oregon native broadleaf stonecrop and Sedum spathulifolium cultivars make excellent choices for the bed or container in a northwest garden.
Again, enjoy growing succulents in the northwest as long as you offer proper drainage, whether they are in a container or on the ground.
Do Trader Joe’s have any succulents for sale?
At Trader Joe’s, we offer trendy clay pots filled with on-trend succulents in a variety of genus and species.
It’s impossible to forecast exactly what varieties you’ll find on your visit because availability depends on our growers’ yield.
Succulents—does Costco carry them?
Succulents are always a good idea, especially if you don’t have a green thumb. The low-maintenance plants come in a huge variety of forms and hues, such as bear paw succulents, mermaid succulents, and pink rose succulents. Well, Costco has what you need if you want to expand your collection of succulent plants. Succulent 3-packs with the cutest planters are available from the wholesaler.
Can you grow succulents in the Pacific Northwest?
Do you feel jealousy for succulents? Unfortunately for us, the plants in these gorgeous succulent gardens are located in considerably warmer climates than those shown in garden publications and books.
But don’t give up. Succulent cultivation is feasible and even fashionable at the moment in the Pacific Northwest. These attractive plants may provide diversity and visual impact to your landscape if you know a little bit about managing variations and circumstances in your garden.
Succulent plants are indigenous to arid areas, where they have evolved thick stems, leaves, and roots to store water. In order to conserve water, many have waxy leaves, hairy or spiny surfaces, compact columnar or spherical shapes, and a smaller leaf surface area.
In the Pacific Northwest, the majority of these varieties can be grown outside during the warm, sunny months and protected indoors during the chilly, rainy months. Some even grow well in shaded regions.
Although many are remarkably cold-resistant, they need to be covered from the rain. Due of the cold, others must retreat inside.
Numerous kinds can withstand our winters, rain (if provided with sufficient drainage), and dry spells. The secret is to understand each plant’s needs before purchasing it and to know whether to grow it as an annual or a perennial, in the ground or in a container.
Basic needs for all succulent plants include:
n Water deeply yet sparingly to prevent root rot. The soil must be almost completely dry between applications. Because the succulent is storing water in its leaves and stems, the thicker the succulent (especially cacti), the less water it will need. Withhold watering throughout the winter when plants go dormant unless the days are unusually warm.
n The soil needs to drain well. Use a commercial cactus mix, or add perlite or pumice to garden soil and potting mixtures in amounts ranging from 1/3 to 1/2.
n Apply spring fertilizer at half-strength strength, or only lightly.
n These plants require sunlight both indoors and outside. Provide them with at least three hours of direct sunlight each day to preserve their color and symmetry and promote blossoming.
Insect infestations can be avoided by increasing air movement. Aphids can live on flower buds, while mealy bugs can settle down in leaf axils. Spray some diluted rubbing alcohol on the area to control.
Although some plants will handle a little bit more on either end, the ideal temperature range for plants is between 40 and 80 degrees.
n To prevent stretching, overwinter plants indoors with six hours of light per day (using fluorescent lights if necessary). Keep them in a temperature range of 35 to 60 degrees and use a fan to promote circulation. To prevent leaf sunburn, gradually acclimate plants to bright sunshine in the spring.
The greatest succulents to grow outside in our Pacific Northwest winters are:
Sempervivum, sometimes known as “hens and chicks,” multiplies by creating identical baby “chicks” around the mother plant from their fat rosettes.
Around 4,000 identified varieties with different colorations, rosette forms, and leaf textures have been created by breeders.
Seasonal color variations occur, and in the summer, star-shaped flowers are seen. They are easily divided and dispersed around your garden because to their thin roots. Make sure to investigate which goes where because some flourish in the sun and others in the shade.
Trailing cultivars of sedum (stonecrop) can be utilized as ground coverings, in terraces, rock gardens, and hanging baskets.
Mexican sedums with larger leaves should be overwintered indoors because they can’t stand the cold or a lot of moisture. In the winter, shrub sedums die back and come back in the spring. All develop clusters of blooms that resemble stars.
Hardy ice plant Delosperma has finger-shaped leaves and vivid aster-like flowers in shades of pink, red, and purple. This herbaceous ground cover spreads up to 18 inches and reaches a height of 6 inches. From early July till frost, its blossoms are in bloom.
Debra Lee Baldwin, the author of multiple books on succulents and a helpful succulent blog, suggests Utah agave (Amelanchier utahensis), Haworthias (especially the zebra plant Hawathia attenuate), and Echeveria if you’re prepared to bring your succulent plants indoors for the winter.
Master Gardener for Skagit County and Washington State University, Kathy Wolfe. You can contact the WSU Extension Office by phone at 360-428-4270 or online at skagit.wsu.edu/MG, which is located at 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233.
The resilience of succulents
The season for succulents doesn’t end with summer. There are many of these lovely plants that can withstand the extreme cold of winter. Plant them outside for color all year long. They can withstand temperatures below zero as long as they have full sun and dry soil.
Yes, you can grow Cactus in Portland (and many other places)…
I go on a small Opuntia recording journey to help bolster this idea of successfully cultivating cacti (for anyone still doubting it). Re-visiting the gardens where prickly pears are known to flourish, such as this, this, and these ones, was not my intention. Instead, search for new landscapes with them placed in more unusual garden designs, alongside other plants. Where they are being treated as a special feature, in a container, and are thriving just well over the winter…or where you can see a gardener who is doing it right “spiky-curious but still hesitant to fully cross over to the spiky side. This is my somewhat unscientific account of opuntia growth in Portland’s Northeast and a small portion of its North in July 2012.
I moved into our home in the summer of 2005, and I remember seeing this prickly pear for the first time. I used to pass it every day on the way to work. I’m not sure if they continually prune it back or if it has stunted growth as a result of being in a small pot.
I’m wondering why they chose Opuntia in this entry because it seems dangerous. (Observe the security sign so near the potentially hazardous plants.)
Additionally, they have some planted in their hell-strip along with another of my favorites, phormium.
These are located just down the street (neighbors do have a tendency of influencing one another, don’t they?).
I adore how the rough, hairy Trachycarpus trunk is nestled up next to the soft, green pads.
Additionally, they have a couple in their hell strip (long with a healthy collection of weeds)
These are the mother plants of my first opuntia, which are shown in the photo at the top of this post. Since being first posted on my blog in April 2009, they have progressed significantly. This kind neighbor has helped me grow pads that I can share with my friends and family and that I also have a plentiful supply of for my own garden.
So vibrant with purple fruit and blossoms in yellow and orange! (as well as the vivid house color, of course)
The garden of our friend Michelle has these floriferous pads placed behind a boxwood border, demonstrating that you can successfully combine different garden types.
These Opuntia humifusa are flourishing in Patricia, another member of my plant lust group.
And I think she found these broken and abandoned pads on the pavement last winter. These plants are tough, which is another fantastic quality. They maintain their wonderful looks despite being mistreated by ignorant people.
As demonstrated by this flowering relic in Megan, my other plant-lust partnergarden. ,’s Her Opuntia humifusa was torn to pieces by some moron who ripped it out of the ground. didn’t appear to bother them at all.
Finally, I must reveal the newest item I’ve added to my collection: Look at those spines on the opuntia x rutila!
Isn’t it gorgeous? It was waiting for me yesterday at Cistus! The full text of the tag is as follows: “This unknown hybrid was part of Claude Barr’s early Colorado Plateau collection. Three or four thick orange-red and black spines denote pads “long, with the elongation indicating O. polycantha and O. fragilis as the parents. Yellow blossoms in the middle of spring turn apricot. Amazing for small rock gardens with the typical cactus requirements of sun, bare, well-drained soil, and little to no summer water. tolerant to frost in USDA zone 4.”
Have you started growing opuntia? Why not, if not? Would you want to try? The final day to comment to be considered is Friday, July 27, and I’ll determine the winner over the weekend. If you leave a comment, I’ll send a pad or two (propagated from the “neighbor plant”) to a randomly selected winner (in the Continental United States, sorry Louis). Fun!
**Update as of Sunday, August 29! Alison was chosen at random as the winner by giving the entrants the numbers 24-33, and the indifferent spouse was asked to choose one. Congratulations to Alison, and thank you to everyone! **