Awesome question, thyme! There have indeed been a few photo postings lately, and I look forward to a few more as folks come on here to answer. I've been toying with this as well, so I'm glad you asked!

I bought an old urn at a barn sale a few years ago and last year put succulents in it and brought it in for the winter and put it in my basement. Only 2 plants survived. I wasn't sure if any of them were winter hardy. I would think that if snow froze or ice formed in the bowl of your birdbath it would crack.

Oh, Susan, yes I thought that was you! I absolute LOVE what you've done. Interesting it's in the shade. I was thinking the plants would need more sun. I would like to put both in part shade areas, so that is good news. I wonder if I could just bring the whole bowl inside for the winter whether the plants are hardy or not. What soil and how deep is the soil planting area? Thanks for the help/info.

Gee, seeing yours I think I should hire you out to make the arrangements for me! LOL! You have done an outstanding job with form, texture, color, etc.

Thank you! I can't bring my bowl inside because it's attached to the post and also the concrete base goes into the ground. Sounds like you might be able to do that though. My bowl is rather small. The outside is about a foot across and 6" deep, but planting area is probably only 10" x 5". I jam the plants in as tight as I can, using the soil from the pots. Where needed just fill in with a little Miracle Gro potting mix (not the moisture control kind and not the potting soil).

Ok, that's good information about jamming them in and using regular potting soil. I have to figure out all the logistics, which I think will all be doable. My bird baths do detach. The bowls are very large so should fit a ton of plants. One other thought, do you think this might be a good winter project for purchasing/planting succulents inside and then I assume hardening them off in the spring? I think once the garden gets put to bed this fall I'll start to delve into the world of succulents which I know very little about so I can make appropriate choices once I'm ready for planting.

Gosh, I just keep going back to your pictures. Your creation is just so perfect. Gorgeous!

I meant the regular potting MIX like you mentioned. I'll make a note to make sure I don't pick up soil. Heck I'm pretty sure I have a few bags of potting mix still upstairs with my seeds.

Yes, well if you start them inside it could maybe give them a chance to grow so that you don't have to purchase a ton of plants. I don't harden mine off, just plant them in the BB in late May.

There's a cacti and succulents forum on GW too. Those folks know a lot more about the plants than I do, and some of them do pretty container gardens...some with the plants spread out more with rocks and other stuff. All I know is, for me, succulents are about as carefree as anything, and pretty.

Thanks again for the complements. Your gardens are beautiful.

Susan

Susan, I agree with T2D that your combos in that container are stunning!

Avant Gardens each year takes photos of their containers in the spring shortly after planting and again in the fall. They use a range of containers. Here's the link to this year's spring containers with one that has succulents in the middle and a bunch at the bottom and at the end links to other blog posts that deal with succulents. I think I remember one from the last year dealing with refreshing year-old succulent containers. They overwinter theirs in their greenhouse I think, but I've overwintered mine in the cold front foyer which only gets heat from the sun and whatever leaks out from the house. They also carry a wide range of hardy and nonhardy succulents, though local and big box stores are probably less expensive.

I tried succulents in a shallow container without drainage holes and wouldn't recommend it unless you are placing it somewhere that doesn't get rain such as under a porch overhang. I think it might work OK in places like CA or TX (most years) but here we get too much rain. Even though I drained extra water as often as possible, it still looked like death warmed over for most of the summer since it never really dried out.

Hey Barb, can I borrow your foyer since I don't have a garage or basement with all the model trains?! LOL!

you brought up my main worry about drainage. I'd hate to try to drill holes in the baths only to have them crack or break. I thought I could monitor and tip out water, but you've experienced this and it doesn't sound like it worked well.

Hmmmmm......I may have to rethink this. Or get a porous birdbath like Susan's. Thanks for the extra thoughts and experience.

T2D, I have drilled holes in large ceramic pots. Use a masonry drill bit and put a couple of pieces of masking tape over the spot(s) where you want to drill. Start with a very small bit and increase the size. Some stones in the bottom will help with drainage. A key to success would be to mound the soil higher in the middle and taper it to the edge of the bowl, so that water tends to roll right off, particularly in winter when the soil is frozen.Also, the additional depth of mounded soil will keep the shallow bowl from becoming too dry in summer. After all, even succulents appreciate some moisture when actively growing. Good luck!

As for plants, there are many hardy succulents that you can try. Many types of sempervivum (Hens & chicks), sedums, cacti, ice plants and more. This online company has a very interesting assortment of unusual succulents. Here is the link.

Bill, thanks for the extra info about your success with holes in pots. Maybe I will give it a whirl with one of them to see how we do. If it goes well I can do the others. I've always wanted some sort of succulent garden and I think a few large birdbath gardens would satisfy my curiosity to try something new.

Thanks for the link. I get a HCG catalog about every couple of weeks and yet it didn't cross my mind that they would have a good variety! I won't recycle the next catalog! LOL!