Yellow VW Bug loves succulents

Well, if you have an old rusted out VW Bug lying around somewhere, you, too, can transform it into a gigantic yellow planter for succulents and cacti. That’s what happened at the Tucson Botanical Garden when the staff created this ‘Cactus Car’.

While this ancient yellow Beetle is charming and whimsical, obviously it’s not very practical for everyday residential gardens. It is way too big unless you want to shock the neighbors and/or bring the HOA running to warn you to remove it.

So take this Yellow VW Bug as an inspiration.

As it proves, almost anything can become a container suitable for growing plants: old sinks, garden buckets–new and old, slightly bashed baskets you were planning to give to the Goodwill, that chipped old pasta bowl, or a bare-tread flat tire, to name a few.

The brilliance of planting an unusual container with succulents and cacti is that you don’t have to water the plants often and the container, itself, can be a focal point in your garden.

So here is a closer look at this vehicular planter.

Peace and love and rock ‘n’ roll were the hallmarks of the VW Beetles era. Even after more than 3 weeks of hanging on the side of this car these sturdy succulents look great while sending us a message from the 1970s and ’80s.

The engine compartment now houses a collection of cacti including some uncommon ones.

More succulents cover the tire. The hub cap looks pretty bashed up, however. This yellow Beetle was probably salvaged from a junkyard somewhere.

One of the silly contests run by college kids back in the 1970s was too see how many people could squeeze into a VW Bug. I don’t remember the winning number, but the staff at the TBG managed to find places for over 240 varieties of cacti and succulents in this one.

So what else was happening at the Tucson Botanical Garden?

Well, the clever Korean lanterns and the La Catrina Dia de los Muertos figures are gone, but quite a number of cacti are wearing what looks like styrofoam hats to protect them from the freezing temperatures we’ve had lately. I certainly hope that this protective gear is biodigradable — not old fashioned, live-forever-in-the-ocean-and-kill-fish styrofoam.

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And Lilac vine (Hardenbergia violacea) is blooming in the fence near the parking lot. This Australian native vine and the Bradford ornamental pear are two of the earliest bloomers telling us that Spring is arriving!

I would love to welcome you as a new reader of ‘I Saw It In Tucson’. I’m writing as a newcomer to the city, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Sign up for this free blog before you leave the site today. (And tell a friend about it!)

February in Tucson brought us no rain to speak of, but thousands upon thousands of vaccinations, including one for me. Only one more to go on Tuesday.