Frosty day pictures

[PhilipPV]

We've finally had a hard, lasting frost here on the south coast, too late for last month's winter-themed photo competition. Here are a few of my outside plants in their winter finery...

Rosularia sempervivum ssp. glaucophylla

Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget'

Sempervivum globiferum ssp. allionii 'Oki'

[juster]

Lovely photos, thanks for sharing.

[rodsmith]

Terrific photos, Philip.

[ralphrmartin]

You sure they aren't 1/2 price spray painted Xmas gifts?

Seriously, nice pics, and I hope no plants were damaged by the frost.

[PhilipPV]

... I hope no plants were damaged by the frost.

It really hasn't been that kind of winter here. That said, the long, deep freeze we had in December 2022 saw off anything likely to be vulnerable in this (notably a couple of Aristaloe aristata).

The main problem I have growing succulents outside is our garden's massive population of snails and slugs, none of which seem to have read the numerous lists of gastropod-proof plants which explicitly mention sempervivum and sedum as being safe. All of those above are in a container which I protected with a copper band, which seems largely to have worked. Another plant of S. globiferum 'Oki' in an unprotected pot has been chomped to virtually nothing, along with some other sempervivums, a couple of delospermas and, last summer/autumn, most of the hylotelephiums in the open garden. At least they are less active in the cold.

Petrosedums and dwarf rhodiolas seem immune and I am pleased that a Delosperma lehmannii seems to be completely untouched by either frosts or wildlife. The latter looks too exotic to survive outside in the UK, very much resembling something like Crassula plegmatoides, but the cutting in a large bowl outside is currently looking much better than its mother plant in the greenhouse, the leaves of which are shrivelling in the artificial drought.

[PhilipPV]

Even frostier this morning...

Lewisia 'Little Raspberry' - not usually thought of as a foliage plant

Sempervivum 'Virgil'

Sempervivum 'Pacific Purple Shadows'

And either I have discovered a new species, Hylotelephium crystallinum, or a rather premature shoot of H. telephium 'Dark Magic' is regretting its early start...