For those who are torn between planting spectacular, colourful annuals and balancing their time with holidays and camping this summer — succulents (example, cacti) may be an option.
Monica Bailey, an avid gardener who has lived in Cochrane for three years, said that she has moved away from planting high-maintenance annuals — a great cost and time savings to accommodate her busy camping schedule.
“A lot of your planting will depend on the micro-climate in your yard,” she said, adding that she has had great success at transplanting her succulents from her containers directly into the ground.
Of her transplants, around 90 per cent survived overwintering; she does not cut them back in the fall to help them winter. She said adding snow pack in the winter months would help shelter the plants from harsh winds and weather changes.
“Whenever you shovel your driveway, pile it on your beds,” she said.
Bailey’s list of recommended succulents (which are labeled for Zones 3-4, but have worked for her in Cochrane’s Zone 2) include:
Popular hardy varieties that can work in this finicky Zone 2 include varieties of sedum such as ‘purple emperor’, ‘frosty morn’, ‘garnet brocade’ ‘dragon’s blood’, ‘angelina’, ‘blue spruce’, ‘rosy glow’ and ‘autumn joy’.
Yucca filamentosa varieties that have been noted to work in this zone include ‘variegata’ and ‘adams needle’. She also noted several sempervivum rosettes as having success in this climate, as well as jovibarba.
A great resource for gardeners is to join the Facebook group ‘Cochrane Gardeners’.
