My Afternoon Tea Project...

It has been so hot the past few days that an indoor project seemed like the way to go today.

So, I steeped some Earl Grey Tea and gathered my supplies.

The ingredients for today's project:  A large conch shell, charcoal, pebbles, potting soil and succulents.

I picked up this little succulent plant at the Farmer's Market in Fernandina Beach that I blogged about before.  I'm still trying to determine exactly what plant it is.  It has characteristics of Aloe, Lithops and Haworthia.  (If you know what it is.. let me know! )  I love it for it's small size, and the texture that I knew it would offer to a container garden.  It obviously also spreads well, making new plants which is always a plus for me.. I love a plant that I can divide and use again.

Update:  A twitter friend @RBancroftGarden just retweeted my photo of the shell garden and said that it is a Gasteria.  Here is the wikipedia definition of Gasteria:        

Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants native to South Africa. Closely related genera include Aloe and Haworthia. The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers and is part of the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae.^[1] Common names include cow-tongue cactus, lawyer's tongue,mother-in-law's tongue, ox-tongue.^[2]

I was on the right track..  I'm always excited to 'meet' a new plant! :-)

A couple of days ago a  friend of mine from work gave me a beautiful conch shell.  I knew these two would be a perfect combination.

 Charcoal is something I use often in terrariums and non conventional containers that don't have the best drainage.  Put a layer in the bottom of the planter and mix a small amount in with the potting soil.  I use E.B. Stone's Charcoal.  It's finely ground charcoal absorbs moisture which cuts down on any odor you might get from standing water and helps to reduce damage from over watering.

 A lot of people ask me what soil I use when I plant succulents.  I use a really good quality potting soil - which is not soil at all but finely ground bark usually mixed with some vermiculite and perlite.  You can also use cactus and succulent specific soil.  And sometimes I mix the two.  I had Pike's Potting soil on hand today and as you can see from the photo it's a nice light soil that is perfect for any container planting even succulents.

 It took me a minute to decide which angle I wanted the shell to sit.  I finally decided this would be the angle that would be easiest to water without spilloff.

 The first thing I did was to put in a fine layer of the charcoal.

then I added some pebbles for better drainage....

 and then I added the potting soil...

Pulling apart the succulents was easy..  

     Now to arrange the plants in the shell..

 There were tons of little plants in the basket.

 I added a few more.

 Packed full.  It looks just perfect on the tray on my coffee table!  I'm super happy with it!  And since it doesn't need alot of water it will be easy to take care of too!

Now I'm inspired and off to look for my next project!  I still have a few more plants from The Farmer's Market to plant and a 2 big containers to plant outside.  Happy Thursday.. and Happy Gardening to you all!