This is the perfect season for a landscaping project with succulents, aloes and cactus, and the California Cactus Center is a good place to start. Whether a single planter like the one above is in your plan, or a larger grouping in the ground, finding inspiration within a garden setting can help to give any project focus, style and content.
The California Cactus Center in Pasadena, CA is a great place to wander around, taking in the almost overwhelming plant diversity, and the creative ways that these can be arranged in a yard. Planters are a popular way to create focus with texture, color and scale. They also allow the plants to be moved with the seasons, from a sunny but frost safe winter location to a filtered sunlight site for the hottest summer days.
There are examples of arrangements in the ground, filling in awkward spaces or little tight sites where smaller plants are perfectly at home.
More views of the Cactus Center, show additional inspiration along with how the nursery is organized in tables of smalls and the talls set around the perimeter. It's an awesome sight when you are thinking about water wise plants, but wondering what they will grow up into. You can select a few bits of small color to set along side more common cuttings from the gardens of friends and family to start your own collection.
Above are some of the best ideas I found there. I love the cactus landscape in small scale planted in a 'tray' built onto a flat. This is perfect for yards with sloping ground or difficult sñoil. The hanging ball is a real conversation piece to hang in a sheltered porch or patio.
Under the shade screens sit a huge variety of plants in a wide range of sizes. This is the core of California Cactus Center.
More about California Cactus Center:
Location & Hours: HERE
Gallery of Plants: HERE