Succulent Market

 I received in August an email from Nico Britsch of Succulent Market in Vista, California, with the subject headline "free succulents" followed by a very sweet message. He offered to send me succulents of choice for the opportunity to put out the word about his new business. Yes, please! 

Nico's backstory is that his grandparents Hans and Gretel Britsch, Swiss immigrants, founded Western Cactus in 1966. Nico's father followed by expanding into an international wholesale succulent and cactus farm. Fast forward to 2018 and grandson Nico launched his own online mail-order succulent business specializing in over 100 varieties of potted sedums, cacti, and bulk cuttings. Three generations of succulent and cacti growers! That's impressive. In his message to me he politely asked what I might like to receive, but I let him choose. I don't really grow tender succulents only because I have enough on my plate on our two acres, but I thought now that I have a greenhouse, it might be fun. Here is what Nico sent:

Four sweet containers of succulents. This was photographed in January; here's how they showed up in August:

The packaging was decent, although some soil did bounce around. Packing fragile plants is tricky, I know from working at Joy Creek Nursery where we ship plants as well. You want to wrap them securely but not so much that you break off bits of plant. These were all intact.

Here they are straight out of the box in August.

I received an Echiveria parva

Sedum morganianum (one I actually requested, I adore this little sedum also known as burro's tail)

Echeveria 'Green Pacific'

And finally an Echeveria 'Silver Queen'. Three echeverias and one sedum in total. Prices range from $6.99 to $8.99 each for the four I received (plus shipping, of course), a very reasonable price for obviously very healthy plants. They came in 4" round nursery pots, but there is an option online to buy in nicer potted styles. Many plants on offer at Succulent Market would make fine house plants.

So. That was last August. What took me so long? Summer chores had me running amok on the farm, then we had terrible wildfire smoke for a few weeks. That ran into fall harvesting, then the holidays and, finally, I did not really know what to do with these sweet succulents save for keep them in the greenhouse, awaiting a container worthy of their beauty. Then last weekend FM and I stopped by a favorite garden container store, Little Baja.

That's when I spied her. My heart fluttered, I know this oceanic goddess - I had seen her in other garden stores over the years and melted both at her beauty and her high price tag. We found her not only at a much lower price than I had found in the past, but in the half-price bin! Sold.

Half-price due to this damage. I don't care! It adds character and will eventually weather down and perhaps acquire a patina, adding to her character. For those of you who really know me (and my bathroom), you know I adore mermaids and all things oceanic. Plus, she has that classical antiquity look about her.

Perfect for my new burro's tail and echeverias! 

After a little wrangling, they all tucked in nicely. She will reside in the greenhouse over this winter and come out when the weather warms. They still look great even after being in tiny containers for several months. Note that the burro's tail has grown considerably.

Perfect.

The reason we went to Little Baja in the first place, where we found the oceanic goddess, was to look for a container for our newly acquired lemon tree. We found this also in the half-price area and were set to buy it when a hairline crack was detected. The clerk offered it for a mere $20 and since it will live in the greenhouse all winter and not freeze (which would exasperate the crack with freezes then thaws), we decided to go for it. Sold again! 

This same day we acquired a Meyer lemon tree, the initial impetus for building a greenhouse. I've been looking for a while and found this 'Improved Meyer Lemon' locally at One Green World. I joke about building a greenhouse for a single lemon tree, but seriously, I've always wanted one. 

It doesn't look like much now but just you wait! Lemons are in my future and I couldn't be happier. My newly acquired sedums have a fabulous new container, the greenhouse has a lemon tree and I'm a happy camper. Life is complete. 

Thank you to Nico at Succulent Market for sending me such healthy succulents and for reaching out in the first place. I am all for supporting small businesses, especially those in the horticulture field. We all need a little extra green in our lives, after all. As stated on the Succulent Market website:

Nico also noticed the positive reactions others would have when he would gift friends and teachers a cactus or succulent plant. Faces would beam with joy and amazement. Motivated by a desire to share both the happiness of delivering cactus and succulents, along with their positive living and health benefits, Nico launched Succulent Market in 2018. 

We're so glad you did, Nico. 

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you! Happy gardening!