Ace Collector's Amazing Succulent Garden

You're about to visit the large garden and multi-room greenhouse of plant collector Wanda Mallen and husband Gary Vincent. Wanda shares expert tips, takes us through their two acres, and shows us what she's currently "addicted to."

"There was nothing here 25 years ago when we started," Wanda says. A big priority was trees for dappled shade, so Gary obligingly jackhammered planting holes in decomposed granite. "The good thing is DG drains well," Wanda says.

In an extensive multi-room lattice greenhouse built by Gary are dozens of species and cultivars of Sansevieria, Haworthia and Gasteria, plus aloes and euphorbias. Tropicals include bromeliads, ferns, and epiphytic succulents from Asia and South America. Indoors and out are marvelous crested, monstrose, caudiciform and/or variegated succulents; and odd paddle, spherical, and columnar cacti.

Walls are orange, blue and bright yellow, like the Talavera pottery she collects. Adding whimsy are metal garden sculptures small and large, and (my faves) Gary's clever, creative birdhouses.  

Wanda and Gary's garden will be on tour during the Cactus & Succulent Society's biennial convention to be held in San Diego April 23-27, 2025. (That's what she's referring to at the end, when she says, "Come see for yourself").

GO TO a labeled gallery of 50 extraordinary plants on the "Wanda" page of my site:
https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent...

LEARN MORE: Have a question about succulents not answered here? Use the Search bar at:
https://debraleebaldwin.com/

CORRECTION: At 3:58, the pendant, fuzzy yellow cactus in the Talavera pot is Cleistocactus winteri, not Disocactus (Aporocactus) flagelliformis.

ONLINE SUCCULENT SOURCES
— Mountain Crest Gardens: https://bit.ly/2k5gxqA

BOOKS BY DEBRA LEE BALDWIN
— Designing with Succulents (mainly about in-ground gardening), https://amzn.to/2M7bBig
— Succulents Simplified (good overview for beginners), https://amzn.to/2Ewil2I
— Succulent Container Gardens, https://amzn.to/2VZvGeE

CONNECT WITH DEBRA
-- Website: https://debraleebaldwin.com
-- Newsletter: https://debraleebaldwin.com/subscribe/
-- Online “Stunning Succulent Arrangements” Class: https://www.craftsy.com/class/stunnin...
-- Blog: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent...
-- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
-- Facebook: @DebraLeeBaldwinOfficial
-- Instagram: @debralbaldwin
-- Succulent Chic Shop: https://bit.ly/2If7Qpg

ABOUT DEBRA
Award-winning garden photojournalist and bestselling author Debra Lee Baldwin shares her expertise about “plants that drink responsibly” in print, photos, videos and her “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter. Debra is based in Southern California, home to more succulent specialty nurseries and growers than anywhere else in the world.

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This video:
   • Ace Collector's Amazing Succulent Garden