Friday, October 9, 2009

Echeverias - Maree Clarkson

It is only when we are aware of the earth

and of the earth as poetry that we truly live.

- Henry Beston, 1935, Herbs and the Earth



Echeveria elegans - pencil sketch and watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Notebook - Maree©

My first post for 'Sketching in Nature' and I thought I'd start off with a sketch I did yesterday of an Echeveria in my garden. I'm absolutely made about Echevarias and have a small section in my garden dedicated to them.

Echeverias are natives of Latin America—specifically Argentina and Mexico. For that reason, many of them can’t tolerate frost or cold weather. It takes them virtually all summer to recuperate from the winter, and then winter lashes out again.

Echeverias can be propagated from the pups taken from mature plants. I cut these off close to the mother plant, and stick them in a pot of their own. This method produces plants exactly like the original. Plants can also be propagated from leaf cuttings and cuttings of the flower stalk. If you attempt to grow cultivars from seed, the resulting seedlings may be slightly different in appearance.

Echeverias are noted for their striking foliage, arranged in picturesque rosettes. For some kinds, the rosettes are loose, while in others it is very tightly packed together.

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