My Succulents 2020 Calendar
Now Available!
Many thanks to my "Celebrating the Joy of Succulents" newsletter subscribers who voted for their favorite Succulents 2020 Calendar images and made suggestions for improving others.
Btw, I don't sell calendars myself---Zazzle does, and we "artists" get a 10% royalty. Clearly, I don't do it for the money! Expect to pay around $20 after entering Zazzle's ever-changing discount code. Or if you want to wait, historically Zazzle discounts calendars 60% on Black Friday.
Calendar winners (randomly selected from those who commented) are: Mariann Keenan, Kathy Ramsey, Sandra Andriese, Joyce Laubach, Millie Medoro.
Jan - Echeveria sp.
Feb - Agave shawii (Shaw's agave)
Mar - Sedeveria 'Letizia'
Apr - Echeveria imbricata (Blue rose)
May - Agave victoriae-reginae (Queen Victoria agave)
Jun - Aloe brevifolia (Short-leaf aloe)
Jul - Agave nickelsiae (King Ferdinand agave)
Aug - Echeveria 'Blue Sky'
Sep - Agave parryi var. truncata (Artichoke agave)
Oct - Echeveria 'Blue Frills'
Nov - Sempervivum sp.
Jan - Echeveria sp.
Dec - Agave polly pelona
Succulents 2020 Calendar back cover
Note: Comments below are about the images BEFORE the final selection and corrections. Finalized calendar pages shown here incorporate my newsletter subscribers' preferences and suggestions.
Announcing My 2022 Succulent Watercolor Calendar
Announcing my 2022 Succulent Watercolor Calendar! It features a dozen new, vibrant paintings depicting some of my favorite photos of succulents. A great gift!
The Easy Way to Paint Watercolors
Is there really an easy way to paint watercolors? Yes, if you go straight to painting and don’t spend time drawing the image first. I learned this cool
Hello Debra! Thank you for everything! Been following you for a couple of years now, your ideas are so trendy and beatiful!
Here are my choices:
– Grapto Silver Star
– Short leave aloe
– Sedeveria
– Parrys agave
– Blue Sky Echeveria
Gosh it is so hard to choose but here goes:
– Agave polly pelona this is spectacular in the color range and how dimensional is has been painted.
– Shaw’s agave – the detail on the tips lined in red really draws your eye
– Parryi’s agave the perspective of this specimen is really unique. Somewhat memorizing.
All are so beautifully rendered.
My Favorites are:
Blue Rose
Shaws Agave
Bumpy echeverria
Agave poly pelona
Blue Sky echeverria
They’re all magical. Like the perspective you chose for your paintings.
Well, they all are beautiful! My faves are King Ferdinand, Quadricolor Agave, Sempervivum, and Silver Star Grapt. My least faves are Parryi’S Agave and Xmas Agave. Good Luck with the selection!
Shaw’s agave
Agave Polly pelona
Queen Victoria
All are beautiful, but my favorites are:
Agave polly pelona
Blue Curls echeveria
Parryis agave
Short leaf aloe
Least favorite are:
Queen Victoria agave
King Ferdinand agave
Blue rose echeveria
Whatever decisions you make, the calendar will be stunning.
I think your watercolors are very successful!!! I especially like:
Agave Polly Pelona
Artichoke Agave
Queen Victoria Agave
Sempervivium
Shaw’s Agave
I’m glad I don’t have to make the choices!!!
Silver star graptoveria
Sempervivum
Queen Victoria
Bumpy echeveria
Blue curls echeveria
It’s much easier to leave a comment on the ones I like the least because there are so few of them. But my least favorites are Agave polly pelona and Christmas Agave because they are least recognizable to me. I really love King Ferdinand and Queen Victoria agaves because I love those white markings and the almost stained glass effect they give. And I love Blue Curls because it’s one of my favorites.
Like: 3, 6, 13, 16
Dislike: 1, 2, 10
I didn’t like so much: Agave Pelona; King Ferdinand Agave; Parry’s Agave (my least favourite); Xmas agave (although I could see that you might want that for the month of December),
I liked:: Blue Rose Echevia:; Blue Sky Echevia; Sederia; Sempervivum (my favourite); Short Leaved Aloe.
It is isn’t fair by the way — two great talents that you have: A master succulent gardener and a great watercolourist !!
Hi Debra
Here are my picks
Blue Sky Echeveria
Bumby Echeveria
Sedeveria
Short Leaf Aloe.
Top four:
X-mas agave
Shaw’s agave
Quadricolor agave
Blue Curls Ech.
Bottom three:
Bumpy agave
Artichoke each.
Parryi’s agave
My four favorite (which is very difficult to choose since all of them are beautiful) are sempervivum, quadricolor agave, blue rose echeveria and agave Polly pelona. If I had to choose my least favorite, they would be Xmas agave, short leaf aloe and silver Star graptoveria. Again, they’re all beautiful and would be great in your calendar. I have had several years of your calendars and enjoy them immensely. I have also framed several of your prints from your calendars for decorating purposes. Love looking at them daily!
Blue Sky, Bumpy, Blue Curls and Short Leaf Aloe. Do you see a pattern here. Love the blues.
Xmas, Quadricolr and Shaw don’t trip my trigger, however the pictures are still very well done. Actually all are beautiful works but I had to pick a few favorites. Thank you for this giveaway.
They are ALL Beautiful and need to be in the calendar….you know they do make 16 month calendars 🙂 You do beautiful work and I enjoy reading your articles and follow you. Keep up the good work !!!
Hi, so I love “Mr. October ” the Agave Poly Pelona, Blue curls are beautiful, Blue Sky screams Valentine’s Day, and Bumpy Echeveri is smoldering like August!!!
My least favs, although all really are great, are….xmas agave, king Ferdinand and Parri’s agave.
Artichoke agave, Queen Victoria agave and Blue Sky echeveria are my favorites. They have a translucent but realistic quality that I like
Sempervivum
Short-leaf aloe
Agave polly pelona
Blue Curls echeveria
Silver Star graptoveria
Love them all but these are my faves!
I like them all but these are my favorites.
1. Agave polly pelona
2. Blue rose echeveria
3. Sempervivium
4. Short leaf aloe
I tend the like the more colorful, so the Artichoke agave and the King Ferdinand agave were my lease faviorite.
agave pelona!!!
Include
Blue sky ech
Blue curls
Agave Polly pel
Queen Victoria agave
Don’t include
Xmas agave
Silver star grap
Shaw’s agave
Hi Deborah, your watercolors are beautiful. I have a preference for the ones that are more zoomed in, with less dead space around the edges. I absolutely love the colorful echeverias.
Camille
Hi Debra, your watercolor creations are all quite lovely, so my selection is in no way a critique. Four that I particularly like are ; Agave Polly pelona, Blue Rose Echeveria , Queen Victoria Agave and Shaw’s Agave. I guess I’m partial to the structural appearance of agaves, as my runner up was King Ferdinand ! The four that I found least appealing were ; Sempervivum, Short-leaf aloe, Silver Star graptoveria and Blue Curls Echeveria. ~ P.S. – We have met a couple of times . My name is Hillol, I’m the gentleman waiter at your favorite restaurant, Jyoti Bihanga. I comment occasionally on your videos. My channel name is LOVE OF PLANTS. If I don’t win a calendar, I’ll be sure to purchase one. Bye, Hillol
Hi, i also work in WC so have enjoyed looking at your paintings. I think my favorites are:
Queen Victoria Agave
Blue curls echeveria (I like the touch of lavender)
Blue sky echeveria (lots of purple)!
Short leaved aloe….love the pinks with the touch of orange
I love them all! My favorites are the full page watercolors: sempervivum, bumpy echeveria, blue sky echeveria and blue rose echeveria.
Hi Ms Baldwin! In no particular order, I like:
Artichoke agave
Blue rose echeveria
Blue Sky echeveria
Parryi’s agave
Short-leaf aloe
You are a very talented water colorist. All of the paintings are lovely. The ones I like best are the ones where you see the whole plant and particularly the ones in pots. My favorites are the Queen Victoria agave in the red pot, the sedeveria in the blue pot, and the sempervivum. The ones I liked least are the Xmas agave, Parry’s agave, and King Ferdinand’s agave because they are just a bunch of leaves.
Because I love lots of color, I’m voting for agave Polly polona, bluecurls echeveria, blue sky echeveria, bumpy echeveria, sedeveria, sempervivum, and short leaf aloe. I also love Shaw’s agave, quadricolor agave, and Parryl’s agave.
I know what you mean about having to have a goal…I like to quill snowflakes and every year I say I’m going to start in January, but I never do until after Halloween.
I also love the fact that you can watercolor…it’s something my grandmother did and I’ve always wanted to be able to do the same. Unfortunately, my niece inherited the talent, not me. She’s very talented.
Best: Poly Pelona; Blue Sky; Bumpy Echeveria; Sempervivum
Least favorite: Artichoke; King Ferdinand
So many beautiful choices Debra. I love the Agave polly pelona, the Blue rose echeveria and Parri’s agave. Also the Sempervivum and Short leaf aloe because of the wonderful detail and colors. Only one is not my favorite as it’s a little dark and that’s King Ferdinand agave. Excited to see the final product. Congratulations.
Hi Debra,
The ones I like the most in order are: 1) Blue Sky echeveria 2)Blue Curls echeveria, 3) Bumpy echeveria, 4) Shaw’s Agave, 5) Parry’s Agave.
The ones I like the least is Xmas Agave & King Fernanand Agave. Hope this helps. thanks, barbara
Favorites
Artichoke Blue Agave, Blue Rose Echeveria, Quadracolor Agave, & Sedeveria
Least Favorite
King Ferdinand Agave, Parryi’s Agave, & Christmas Agave
All your watercolors are beautifully done! It was hard to pick just four!! What a great way to celebrate & treasure Mother Nature!
I love the artichoke echeveria, the blue curls, bumpy echeveria, and the aloe. All are so gorgeous! You are so talented. I love your creativity and talent.
Oh Gosh, you are not making this easy! Interesting though that Agaves are prevalent, although they are my favorite too. Here are my favorites, but not in order of priority:
Sempervium
Queen Victoria
King Ferdinand
Blue Sky Echeveria
Agave Polly Pelona
You are a great artist along with so many other things.
My favorites for a calendar are:
QUEEN VICTORIA AGAVE – just so beautiful
SEDEVERIA – contrast is great and so realistic
SHORT LEAF ALOE – the colors pop and such artistry
PERRYI BLUE ROSE = honorable mention. Hit the mark for sure
My least favorites are:
CHRISTMAS AGAVE – just not my style, I guess
SILVER STAR GRAPEOVERIA – IMO, too computer drawn looking
QUADRICOLOR AGAVE – don’t like the pup positioning
For a 36″ x 24″ wall canvas, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bumpy Echevaria and Agave Polly Pelona
Best: blue sky echeveria
Least: parryi’s agave
Favorites: King Ferdinand and Queen Victoria, Artichoke agave, Sempervivum.
Least fav though all are gorgeous: Xmas and Blue Curls
Wowza! This was very difficult to select for best fave’s as they are all magnificent. But here goes – #1 favorite is Shaw’s Agave.
I then selected all the Blue Echeveria’s, i.e., Blue Sky, Blue Rose, Blue Curls and Bumpy Echeveria,
Not an easy decision since all of the watercolors were beautiful creations that I would frame and hang in my home.
Connie
My favorite is Bumpy Echeveria, followed closely by Blue Curls , Artichoke, Queen Victoria Agave and Sedeveria!
Debra, you are a wonderful artist and have captured the true resemblance of the cactus/ succulents. I would select all of them, as they are all realistic.
Love your talent.
Charlene Palmer
Hi Debra ~ All are lovely, but my favorites are: Artichoke Agave, Blue Rose Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave, Sedeveria, Shaw’s Agave, Agave pelona, Blue Curls Echeveria. Thanks!
Wow! it is so hard to pick, they are all so good! but if i have to rank them, these I like the best: Blue Curls Ech., Blue Rose Ech., Blue Sky Ech., Bumpy Ech., Parry’s Agave, Sempervivum, Shaw’s Agave, and Short Leaved Aloe. the rest are very nice too, but just not as “eye popping” as these.
Janet Ward
Artichoke agave, Sempervivum, Sedeveria, with Xmas agave a close runner up. Cool winter, colorful autumn, cheerful summer, and Christmas.
For less desirable, anything that reminds me that tips get dry and ugly or broken or eaten.
My choices for your 2020 calendar are:
Agave polly Paloma
Shaw’s agave
Sempervivum
I tend to like the more colorful watercolors that fill the whole page. Also I chose these succulents because I have them in my yard!. They are all such wonderful paintings it’s hard to choose ones I liked the least. But, these agaves did not get my attention like the others!
Xmas Agave
Queen Victoria Agave
Perri’s Agave
Blue Rose Echeveria
King Ferdinand agave
Shaw’s agave
Sedeveria
My top choices are: Blue Curtis, Blue Rose, Blue Sky and Sedeveria. All so very beautiful and all my favorites!
I like almost all of the paintings, but if I had to choose:
Love: Agave Pelona, Artichoke Agave, King Ferdinand Agave
Like Least: Blue Sky, Quadricolor and Xmas Agave
After carefully examining every single painting (they’re all gorgeous by the way), these were My top four:
Bumpy Echeveria
Parryi’s Agave
Sempervivum
Short Leaf Aloe
I feel like these four would add a great pop of color to anything. I can imagine looking out the window to a gloomy winter day or a rainy day and seeing these paintings and smiling because they radiate so much color and happiness. Also, they show a different side to the plants we know and love.
My other favorites were:
Shaw’s Agave
Sedeveria
Quadricolor Agave
Blue Sky Echeveria
Blue curls Echeveria
Agave Polly pelona
Blue rose echeveria
Xmas Agave
Just like my top four, I feel like these would also add a pop of color to someone’s day. They’re all very unique and show the beauty of plants people don’t always give a second thought to.
[They’re all very gorgeous drawings! I can’t wait for you calendar to be released]
Favorites: Blue Curls echeveria, Blue rose echeveria, Blue Sky echeveria, Shaw’s agave
I would love to order your 2020 calendar if it can be shipped to Mexico.
Beautiful painting Debra, I like the Sempervivum and the short leaf aloe, they look amazing and the color combinations you just used is so fantastic. The Blue Rose Echeveria is also my least favorite look so pretty. Love everything you paint.😍
These are fantastic!! My favorite three are Agave polly pelona, Silver Star graptoveria (in part because it’s unusual and one of my favorites!) and Blue rose echeveria. My second favorites are Shaw’s agave, Short-leaf aloe, King Ferdinand agave, Blue Sky echeveria, and the sempervivum. Sorry, no “unfavorites” here–I enjoy your work too much. <3 Katie
Beautiful talent! They are all beautiful but my favorites are: Agave Polly Pelona, Blue Sky Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave and Shaw’s Agave. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Shaw agave is my favorite
#1 blue rose favorite
Like the color and the big rose momma with all her” babies” right there too
#2 blue sky because I have one that looks just like that but that is just when there is more sun
Then it changes color for less sun
#3Christmas agave one of my favorites for hanging and for What! it changed color
From white to pink then to dark pink and white
This is an old plant from a long ago uncle
Who gave it to my mom and she gave me
Some slips to start
My sweet plant that blooms all the time!!!!
Your background colors should be from the succulent with more or less value to highlight the succulent. You are using background colors that are foreign to the subject matter. When you fill the page with the succulent, the painting is more successful. For example, the Echeverias and the King Ferdinand Agave are better compositions.
Hi Debra
Wow, hard to do. But at first, second & third “glance” here we are:
My favorites: Blue Sky echeveria, Bumpy echeveria Love both these two because of the colors used (& the plants themselves, favorites), but also because of the detail work you show in each one. The smoothness of Blue Sky and bumpiness of the Bumpy echeveria.
Another favorite is Shaw’s agave, again I think for the detail work you’ve done. Beautiful beautiful beautiful watercolors!!!
Least favorites were the Sedeveria and Quadricolor agave, I found the blue of the pots distracting.
Hi Debra! My top 4 are
Shaw’s agave
Agave parryi
Blue sky
Short leaf aloe
Honestly tho all of them are so gorgeous!
Top Four Stunning:
Sempervivum – Vivid Colors
Shaw’s agave – Good Composition, Nice color balance
Agave polly pelona – Compostion & Color balance
Blue Sky Echeveria – Similar reasons
All were lovely, however here are my least favorite:
Christmas Agave – The shadow was too green. Color not quite as balanced for shadow and light. Bring color in sunlit areas?
Silver Star Graptovera – Too light overall.
Quadicolor – Might have been better to leave the pup out of the composition
Bumpy Echeveria – Not quite clean enough, rough draft quality.
Alll are beautiful and I am always inspired by your work, photos and lessons. Thank you so much!
Keepers are Shaw’s agave, sedveria, Queen Victoria agave (one of my favorites of my collection) Quadricolor agave. I choose these because of color play and textures. I also like having different perspectives – some up close and others can be seen in pot. I do love them all, you are a talented artist. I will be purchasing a couple of these calendars for gifts.
Agave polly pelona – Keeper -because of it’s color, full frame demonstration of symmetry and pattern
Artichoke agave – Keeper – because centeredness works here. Captures wonderful shadows in leaves and nice contrast to sand. To succulent folks we see this background often and it should be noted also
Blue curls echeveria – Not so much – Too soft. Center of plant should be more distinct – perhaps the white outline of leaves is the reason
Blue rose echeveria – Keeper – because of the angle on the plant and how light hits the center of plant. Great color and realistic background of other rosettes
Blue sky echeveria – Keeper – because of dynamic purples, turquoise and rose/burgundies. Modernistic feel…different from other images
Bumpy echeveria – Not so much. While I love the salmon yellow gradation in color the plant form is totally lost in the edges . A little more detail on edges and center would help
King Ferdinand agave – No . Too flat. Not enough shadowing within plant nor highlights to make it 3 dimensional
Parryi’s agave – No. Never met Ana agave with this name that wasn’t crisply symmetrical. While the color is cool it doesn’t ring true for me
Quadricolr agave – No – not enough definition to the lower leaves so it skews the plant angles. The rim of pot is not right
Queen Victoria agave – Keeper. Although quite similar to artichoke in composition, the contrast of pot it nice as well as shadowing in leaves and background
Sedeveria – Keeper – great colors and lighting accents make this pop
Sempervivum – No – Something wring with the foundation of plant …leaf definition I think
Shaw’s agave – No While I like the motion and color contrast I don’t think this displays the plant very well. It is my favorite of the soft one’s though
Short leaf aloe – Keeper – fun color and playful feeling … I like the background contrast
Silver Star graptoveria – NO way too soft and floating in space. Least favorite
Xmas agave No – While I like the idea the angles of the lower central leaves needs some central shadowing
Your paintings display many colors and nuances of colors that I think a succulent could be chosen that fits each month. The one with red balls, Christmas agave, is set for December.
I also love how you captured the blue shades of many echeverias and agaves. They might be good Spring months.
Ok my favorites are #’s 1,2,3, 6,8,9, 11,12,13.. I had no idea your painted! Amazing Debra so much talent in those hands and eyes.
Got my website address wrong on my previous comment
My fav’s are: Blue Rose Echeveria ( #1), Blue Sky Echeveria, Bumpy Echeveria (#2 fav) , King Ferdinand Agave and Shaws Agave. I like the images that fill the whole page and whose colors are fun and energetic even if you squint your eyes and do not
see the plant itself. Think I also see more depth in the paintings I chose. Nice job Debra !! As a Pisces water sign, plant grower, I am partial to the blues and greens and with the splashes of hot reds, purples, my eyes return to the pic again…………
Favorite all time
1. Bumpy Echeveria- the color pops just like mine when it rains
2. Blue Sky Echeveria- ditto, see above
3. Shaws Agave- the juxtaposition of the spines, the red trim and deep greens are sweet to behold
4. Sempervivum- the purples, reds, and maroon are enchanting
5. Blue Rose Echeveria- Sorry, but I am biased to the Echeverias as they are the best looking succulents in my yard.
Not so favorite
1. Christmas Agave- I don’t know except I am not normally a fan of spines that jump and me.
2. Siver Star Graptoveria- the color does not do much for me, kind of plain Jane green.
My favorites are Artichoke Agave, Silver Star Graptoveria, Quadricolor Agave and Sedevaria.
My least favorites are Xmas Agave and King Ferdinand agave.
In all honesty, they are all so beautiful! You are so talented and creative!
Bumpy echaveria
Queen Victoria
They’re all beautiful , but these 2 are my favorites
Debra, your echeverias are stunning – I can’t pick out one, as a group they are hands down my favorites. My second choice is the Short-leaved aloe. Your use of color is a nice counterpoint to the echeverias. Beautiful work, fun to see it!
Beautiful, but since you asked…
Yes/UPs-
#1 Blue Sky echeveria- love your color use & asymmetrical composition!
#2 Bumpy echeveria – love the color use, line created by edges & asymmetrical composition!
#3 Blue Curls- love your color use & asymmetrical composition!
No/DOWNs-
#1 Xmas agave- keep asymmetrical composition, show a bit more if plant ( still not all!). Color contrast in this is wonderful- potentially great for Dec page!
#2 Silver Star graptoveria – darker background for more contrast
#3 Artichoke agave – too much gravel background. Imagine the curve of several layers of this like a collar or necklace along length of page?!
They are all beautiful, but I prefer the ones that show most or all of the plant. For example, the Xmas Agave print might be unclear to anyone but a succulent enthusiast. Can’t wait to see the whole calendar!
Thank you, Debra! I love all the information you share and your help with caring for these precious plants is instrumental to me with my love of succulents! Love your watercolors!
ΜY FAVES ARE: (although I have to say this was not easy to pick, as I love them all!!)
1) Agave polly pelona
2) Blue rose echeveria
3) Sedeveria
4) Bumpy echeveria
MY LEAST FAVES:
1) Parryi’s agave
2) Queen Victoria agave
3) Xmas agave
Wow, these are all lovely! My faves are: Blue rose echivaria, Blue Sky ech., King Ferdinand Agave, and Shaw’s Agave. I think I like the images that crop into the plant without a pot or background.
I didn’t realize your additional talent as a painter. So impressed.
Thank you for this fun opportunity! To save space, my comments for each are by number, in order of listing, #1 first, #16 last:
*My favorites:
1-dramatic radial symmetry, great color saturation
4-I like the rhythm of the image, good color
5-Nice to have some ‘blue’ for diversity in the calendar
11-my very favorite – there’s an innocent, friendly warm appeal of this composition.
*I gave +/- to these: 7, 9, 10, 12, 13
*The following were my least favorite, mostly because they seem somewhat ‘washed out’ in appearance: 2,3,6,15
*These, I didn’t find the composition appealing: 8,14,1,16
Hi Debra! Your so very talented! I’m a little bit envious! 😂 I’m probably the last person who should “judge” your art work. But I can tell you what POPS for me! You diffently have agaves down! The only agave “NSM” is the Xmas agave. Also on the NSM list is Short leaf aloe & Sedeveria. It was hard to puck for FAVS!
Agave poly pelona
Blue Rose Echeveria
Bumpy Echeveria
Sempervivum
I hope this helps you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge & experience with us! Best Regards, Michele 💜
Hi Debra! Top 12 in my humble opinion –
Agave polly pelona
Blue Curls echeveria
Blue rose echeveria
Blue Sky echeveria
Bumpy echeveria
King Ferdinand agave
Parryi’s agave
Quadricolor agave I could look at this one forever
Sedeveria My other favorite
Sempervivum
Shaw’s agave
Short-leaf aloe
My least favorite – Queen Victoria agave (the painting just looks flat to me) and the Xmas agave! Not the plant 🙂 Just the rendition, which is just not appealing to me – it seems to be missing something – 😉
When I heard that you do watercolors I knew there was a reason I liked your books, website, advice, etc. You’re an artist! It make sense now. My favorite is the “sunset” of the Bumpy Echeveria (for October? Bit like fall colors), next I’m drawn to your dynamic composition of cool colors in the Sky Blue Echeveria (for January – reaching out to the New Year). I guess I love the forms of the echeveria…Next I like the King Ferdinand Agave for its stained-glass look and the relaxing and peaceful cool colors (Maybe April for Earth Day). The next ranking was harder – I’ll have to go with another echeveria: Blue Rose for its composition, the pups in the background, the subtle complementary colors (Maybe February, it makes me think of love and family). Shaws Agave was also in the running with more bold complementary colors and more of a close up. It lead the imagination to many places of what and where it could be (underwater? jaws? microscopic? from Alice in Wonderland?). It could be for April (Fools). I went back and forth but next is Sedeveria for its warmth and asymmetrical design (I wish it was cropped just a bit more to fill up the page), Again those complementary colors are lovely & give the painting liveliness (March? It reminds me of Spring with new growth). Your Artichoke agave is lovely but the background doesn’t help. The monochrome painting seems a bit dreary for a calendar. The purples and reds of the Sepervivum are dynamic but I don’t love that it is floating – I like the light yellow (looks like dawn) behind the upper part of the plant but feel the mossy khaki is drab for a calendar, cropping may help. Perryi’s Agave colors are beautiful (complementary yellow & purples) but the repetitiveness would make a lovely wallpaper pattern but doesn’t have a place for your eye to rest making it unsuitable for a calendar in my opinion. The Queen Victorian Agave is lovely in its form but being centered on the page there isn’t much dynamic. I think the King Ferdinand Agave painting is much stronger! I guess next I’d pick the Xmas Agave. It is okay but it doesn’t spark much interest (sorry). Same with Pollypelona Agave – I don’t love the composition (crop a bit asymmetrical to help a lot). Next the Quadricolor agave, it is loose but not in a good way and the composition should work but it leaves me wanting more drama. Next, I’d place the Short-Leaf Aloe. A beautiful painting but the “floating” composition for a calendar leaves me placing it second-to-last on my list. And finally, the rectangular format doesn’t help the Silver Star Graptoveria. I hope you find this critique helpful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!!
My faves are Artichoke agave, Blue Rose echeveria, Quadricolor agave Sedeveria and Sempervivum.I chose these for their renderings in watercolor as well as they’re some of my favorites.
They are all awesome. My least favorite is Christmas Cactus.
My favorite is the Bumpy Echeveria, Blue Curls Echeveria, Blue Sky Echeveria, Short-leaved Aloe, Sedeveria and Sempervivum.
I love your blog, posts from you and everyone who gives feedback it’s a cactus and succulent, happy family.
The videos are fantastic and full of great tips….don’t change a thing it’s awesome in everyway.
I’ve learned more from what you do, say and teach than I have from any other place.
Thank so much sharing yourself and knowledge with us all.
Leasts:
Bumpy
Parry’s
Xmas
The rest all looked nice — good work
‘Blue Sky’ echeveria, beautiful use of color and space; Shaw’s agave, great contrast, detail, and colors; Artichoke agave, love the contrast between background and the blue agave; Blue Curls echeveria (hard to decide, but this is my Fav :), technique is excellent, beautiful colors and shading; King Ferdinand agave, fine detail and wonderful use of monochromatic color, love the way it fills the canvas.
I could pick more, but these are my Top Five.
I like the following:
Shaw’s Agave
Blue Curls Echeveria
Blue Rose Echeveria
love
agave
blue sky
bumpy
sempervivum
sort leaf
No so much
sedeveria
silver star
All of your watercolors are wonderful. But if you want me to choose, here goes!
I could look at your Bumpy Echeveria 24/7/365. It is fantastic! The other 3 I would select are Blue Rose Echeveria, Sempervivum, and artichoke agave.
I think the paintings that fill the page are more interesting than those that don’t. My 10 cents.
BEST:
-Agave Polly pelona- love the closeup & colors)
-Blue Curls echeveria-love the closeup & colors
-Blue rose echeveria-love the closeup & colors
-King Ferdinand agave-love all the green colors
GOOD:
-Queen Victoria agave-love dimple pot, but prefer frame filled more-maybe several small potted plants?
-Shaw’s agave-love the center 3 leaves; outer leaves too light
-Blue sky echeveria-looks like some leaves were cut off, but love the colors
-Artichoke agave-love shape & colors, but too much background
-Sedevenia-like the plant only
-Short leaf aloe-background too dark, but love the plant
-Parryi’s agave-prefer to see more plant
LEAST LIKED:
-Xmas agave-don’t like this one at all
-Bumpy echeveria-too whimsical, doesn’t look real
-Sempervivum-don’t like color of ground (too dark)
-Silver Star graptaproveria -not enough contrast in background
-Quadricolor agave-too much ground & blue pot; looks like some leaves were cut
I’m voting for the short-leaved aloe. Why? First, the picture is gorgeous. Second, I don’t own one but I wish I did.
My second choice would be the Artichoke agave. I do own several of them. Besides being beautifully symmetrical, they are easy to care for and can tolerate many different environments.
Third choice is the Bumpy echeveria. Your picture makes them look much prettier than they are in real life but the real succulent enthusiast loves this plant for its uniqueness but the average person will think it is ugly.
My least favorite is the Sempervivum. The picture is outstanding. It is just because I live in Florida and Sempervivums are very difficult to impossible to grow and maintain here.
I love them all!! If I have to pick 3
Agave Polly Pelona
Blue Rose Echevena
Queen Victoria Agave
Hi Debra….Your watercolors are lovely and I personally like almost all of the images. My least favorites were the Artichoke Agave, Parryi’s Agave, and Queen Victoria Agave….maybe for me it is the brown background…or I may not be into Agave. 🙂
I loved the Blue Curls Echeveria, Blue Rose, Blue Sky, Bumpy, and Silver Star… The flower shapes of the echeveria pop with the blue and green tones that you used in your paintings.
So nice to see that you are continuing with your artistic calendar. It would be a nice addition to any home.
I absolutely love the Agave polly pelona, Blue rose echeveria, Queen Victoria agave, and the Silver Star graptoveria! They bring me so much joy to stare at. Great job.
Love Agave, Blue Curls, Blue Sky, and Bumpy. There no bad image, but these three are less appealing to me:
Queen Victoria (too small?)
Short-leaf aloe (dull background)
Silver Star (pale, monochromatic)
Xmas agave (too close?)
Keep painting! You are very talented.
Here are my favorites for your 2020 calendar: Artichoke Agave, Blue Sky, Bumpy echeveria, Blue Rose echeveria
And the ones I don’t care for as much: Shaw’s agave, Xmas agave, Parry’s agave
I’m going to the Succulent Extravaganza tomorrow…looking forward to it but will miss seeing you there!
Greetings,
I like the ones that fill up the page with the plant-Agave Polly,Blue curls,Blue rose, blue sky, bumpy ech, King Ferdinand, Shaws Agave, Parryils agave, silver star, quadcolor agave, sempervivum, short leaf aloe.
You do really nice work! I work at Summer Winds Nursery in Phoenix and am always spreading the word about your site. Thanks for all you do in promoting desert gardens!
All the echeverias are beautiful and should certainly be included.
Top 4
Blue sky echeveria
Quadricolor agave
Queen Victoria agave
Sedevaria
They are all great. Hard to pick the weaker ones
Xmas agave
Silver star graptoveria
Short leaf aloe
Do not like the artichoke agave as it does not have enough contrast.
The Christmas one looks too “stiff”.
All the others are beautifully done. I like the line and colors.
Hi Debra, You are such a talented person. The watercolors are all beautiful. My favorites are: Blue curls echeveria, Bumpy echeveria, Queen Victoria agave, Silver Star graptoveria. The not so much ones were hard to choose but here they are: Agave poly pelona, Blue rose echeveria, Sempervivum and Xmas agave. Thanks for sharing.
Agave blue. Blue curls. Blue rose. Queen Vic. These are at the top of the “include” list
Hi,
Thank you for letting us get the chance to pick our favorites for the calendar next year. I have several categories because I have several that are my super favorite.
SUPER FAVORITES
1) Sempervivum : My favorite color is purple so this picture captured me
2) Short – Leaf Aloe : I love lots of color
3) Artichoke agave :
4) Blue Curls echeveria
5) Blue Rose
6) Blue Sky
7) Bumpy
Favorites
1) Agave polly pelona
2) Queen Victoria agave
3) Sedeveria
4) Silver Star graptoveria
5) King Ferdinand agave
6) Parryis agave
Wonderfully drawn but not my favorites
1) Quardricolor agave
2) Xmas Agave
Agave Polly. Blue curls. Blue rose. Queen vic
There is no way I can pick a “least” favorite, as they are all wonderful! I do, however have four that I absolutely LOVE!
1) Queen Victoria Agave
2) Sempervivum
3) Silver Star Graptoveria
4) Sedeveria
You have an amazing talent!!!! Thank you for sharing!
Escheveria curly and bumpy
My favorites are 1/3/5/6/12. I like the different colors and textures of those plants, i.e. frilly, etc.
My not so favorites are 2/7/16, due to more monotone colors and sharper looking leaves.
My faves!
Blue curls echeveria
Blue sky echeveria
Bumpy echeveria
Parryi’s agave
Sedevera
Shaw’s agave
Favorites are, agave pelona, blue curls echeveria, blue rose echeveria, blue sky echeveria, bumpy echeveria, shaws agave, short leaved aloe and silver star graptoveria. All are beautiful!
Hi Debra!
Thank you so much for including Hannah in your newsletter!
She was so pleased and proud and so was I!
You are so dear to us!
That “Bumpy Echeveria” is exquisite, BTW,
as are all of your watercolors!
Greg and I will be wheels up to Paris during your event with Hannah.
We’ve been invited as special guests of the gentleman that created the device that saved Greg’s life (and brain function) at the Minneapolis airport.
He’s going to be presenting Greg’s case at a conference of International EM physicians.
Hi Debra, I really enjoy your watercolor painting and had a hard time to decide which ones to pick. You do an excellent job on painting echeverias, which are my favorite, and I could suggest you could come out with an “Echeveria Calendar”! My four picks for your calendar are ; Blue Curls Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave, I like how it fills the page, Bumby Echeveria, so colorful, and King Ferdinand Agave. I found the Silver Star Graptoveria to have too light of a background, the Xmas Agave came forward as too simple of a pic, the Short Leaved Aloe I believe got lost in all the different colors, and last Parry’s Agave didn’t appeal to my liking. Kudos for putting your paintings out there and asking for criticism. As a painter, even though a painting looks “simple” a lot of work goes into it with shading and lighting. Maybe I should make calendars!
.My 3 favorites are Blue Sky echeveria, King Ferdinand agave and sempervivum.
My top four: Queen Victoria, Artichoke Agave, Short-leaved Aloe, and Silver Star Graptoveria
My bottom four: Agave Pelona, Parry’s Agave, Blue Sky Echeveria, and Xmas Agave.
May your upcoming calendar be a huge success and your best ever.
Debra they are ALL beautiful!! I really like the following g (I know it’s more than 3-4) but I think they are worthy. Beautiful art work …
Quadricolor Agave
Queen Victoria
Sedeveria
Short Leaf Aloe
Silver Star Graptoveria
Xmas Agave
Artichoke Agave
Favs: bumpy echeveria, Sedeveria, Silver Star graptoveria.
Not fond of any if there is lots of blue in the picture, but I do love watercolor.
I think all of them are very nice and calendar-worthy, but my four favorites are (in this order)
1. Sempervivum
2. Queen Victoria Agave
3. Agave Pelona
4. Sedeveria
The most striking ones, in my opinion. Your detail is amazing.
Favs:
Shaws Agave
King Ferdinand agave
Agave polly palona
Least liked:
Xmas Agave
Parrys agave
Short leaf aloe
Wow, your talents know no bounds!
So, my faves: Queen Victoria Agave, Blue Sky Echeveria, Blue Rose Echeveria, Agave Pelona
My not so faves: Sempervivum, Bumpy Echeveria
I’ve never been much of a printed calendar kind of guy but I’d love one of yours. Fingers crossed for the giveaway!
Worthy- Agave Polly pleona. Blue rose Echevia. Shaw’ Agava . Bumpy Echevia. Not- Xmas Agave. Silver star Graptoveria. Short leaf Aloe . Queen Victoria Agave
My 2 favorites are Bumpy Echeveria and Sempervivum. Ok one more, Sedeveria.
Debra,
They are ALL beautiful…it’s very hard to choose just 3-4! But if i must, my favorites are:
Agave pelona, Blue Sky echeveria, Bumpy echeveria, Shaw’s agave — plus all the rest! Haha!
Can’t wait to see which make it in.
Dana
My favourites: 3, 6, 13
Least favourites: 1, 14, 16
All are great though.
You are a talented lady Debra Lee!
Vote for: short leaf aloe, ueen Victoria agave, King Ferdinand agave, agave polly pelona
Note so fond of: parryi’s agave, quadricolor agave, sedeveria, shaw’s agave
I of course love them all. Blue sky, Blue rose and Bumpy will look great in my studio 😀.
BLUE CURL ECHEVERIA, BLUE ROSE ECHEVERIA, BLUE SKY ECHEVERIA ARE MY TOP THREE FAVORITES. I LOVE THE COLORS AND THE DETAIL. I’M IMPRESSED WITH YOUR ARTWORK GETTING BETTER AND BETTER EVERY YEAR. YOU ARE AWESOME!
First off, for your own convenience, you should explore voting buttons for each image. There is a lot to digest from the free form comments. Secondly, I had no idea you had this talent, and it is amazing. Thirdly, hard to pick, but in general I’d say that the most realistic ones are my favorites – mostly having to do with not exaggerating the colors. Least favorite – Xmas and Parryi Agaves, and short leaf Aloe. Can’t pick favorites from amongst the others – all so beautiful.
Voting buttons! Who knew! (I should have, ha.) Thanks, Joyce!
OMG, the paintings are soooo beautiful. Thank you for sharing these beautiful paintings with us. I’m new into this type gardening, and I LOVE colors, so the following are my choices for your 2020 calendar in order of choice:
1 – Sempervivum
2. Bumpy echeveria
3. Blue Curls Echeveria
4. Blue Sky Echeveria
5. Short-leaved Aloe
6. Sedeveria
7. Shaw’s Agave
8. Parryl’s Agave
Please keep me on your mailing list……. Beautiful things make my day!
The watercolour medium suits the succulents beautifully; my favourites are the:
Blue curls echeveria
Bumpy echeveria
Queen Victoria agave and
Silver Star graptoveria
I also like the Blue Sky echeveria, Blue Rose echeveria and Sempervarium
They are all quite lovely and difficult to decide but, if I must –
My favorites are: Blue rose Echeveria
Sempervivum
Short Leaf Aloe
Silver star Gratoveria
I like the following too, but “not so much”:
Sedeveria
Shaw’s Agave
Quadicolor Agave
King Ferdinand Agave
All of them are nice but I choose my 3 based on wanting to include 1 that was basically green. Also I liked those that showed the entire plant. I also wanted them all to be different types of plants.
1. Short-leaved aloe
2. Queen Victoria agave
3. Blue curls echeveria.
Love: artichoke agave, blue rose, sedeveria and short leaf aloe
Not so fond of: bumpy and blue curtis
Such beauty!
My favorites are:
1) Bumpy echeveria – gorgeous waves of color
2) Agave Polly pelona – lovely starburst shape
3) Silver star graptoveria – nice shape and symmetry, fine tip points repetition
4) Short- leaf aloe – l live the color contrast and the “teeth”!
I love your beautiful paintings Debra and my favourite 4 are:
Blue Sky Echeveria
Blue Curls Echeveria
Blue Rose Echeveria
Agave Polly Pelona
Shaw’s agave
X
Most liked: Blue Sky Echeveria, Bumpy Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave, Sedeveria
Least Liked: Parryi’s Agave, Shaw’s agave, Christmas Agave
Dear Debra,
I love your watercolors. I think each painting could fit a different month for different reasons. My favorite is Sempervivum because of the beautiful colors. I also like the Blue Rose Echeveria. Blue Sky Echeveria and the short leaved aloe. All of them have great color and a very realistic look.
Hi Debra,
Thanks for sharing so many interesting and helpful articles!
You are a gifted painter, too!
My fav’s are
A polly pelona
Blue Curls Echeveria
Blue Rose E
Sempervivum
Hi Debra! I must say, all of them look really nice. So if i must choose: Blue Curls echeveria, Blue rose echeveria, King Ferdinand agave and Xmas agave are my top 4. My least favorite is the Artichoke agave. think the background doesn’t let the agave color pop out.
Shaw’s agave, Silver Star graptoveria , Sempervivum and Agave polly pelona. They are all beautiful but since I have to choose those are my favorites.
Hi Debra,
Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge on succulents and watercolor painting! Your work is beautiful! The hardest part might be deciding what background color to use?
My fav’s are:
– Sky blue echeveria
-Agave polly pelona
– Bumpy echeveria
Least fav. –
Silver star graptoveria
Xmas agave
From my selections, you might think I have a thing for extreme close-ups and maybe that’s true . . . but from my perspective, your best work that highlight form, design, value and warm/cool color are . . . drum roll please . . . Agave Polly Pelona, Blue Sky Echeveria, King Ferdinand and Shaws Agave!
Here’s what I loved :
1. Queen Victoria Agave
2. Agave pelona
3. blue Rose Echeveria
4. Blue Sky Echeveria
5. King Ferdinand
6. Sedeveria
7. Shaw’s Agave
Love the victoria reginae, Sempervivum, bumpy echeveria (as a nod towards dick wright) and artichoke agave!
Hi Debra,
I a newbie to succulent gardening. I have been a subscriber to your newsletter and really enjoy it.
Your watercolor works are beautiful and thank you for sharing your work with us.
My top favorites:
• Agave pelona
• Blue Curls echeveria
• Blue Sky echeveria
• Bumpy echeveria
I loved the color and fullness of these beauties.
Ones that did not catch my eye as much:
• Artichoke Agave
• Queen Victoria agave
• Xmas agave
For the first two, I think that I see so many small plant photos taken from above, that they are like a dime a dozen to me, anymore. For the Xmas agave, I think I would have like seeing her in more of a landscape setting instead of a close up.
All really beautiful! My faves (in alphabetical order) are: A. polly pelone, Artichoke, Blue Sky, King Ferdinand, Shaw’s and Silver Star.
My top 3
Bumpy echeveria because it makes me want to jump into it! Feels soft, flowing, vibrant, alive.
Sempervivum because I love those colors
Artichoke agave because I just love these. Simple but true.
Bonus:
Shaw’s agave: because I love the detail and shadows!
Only wish I had a drop of your talent! Favorites: Blue curls, sempervivum, blue sky echeverria, Shaw’s agave, artichoke agave. Least favorite: silver star graptoveria, short leaf aloe, parryi’s agave. Any of the others would do for the other seven months. It would be interesting if you posted the final tallies in terms of most popular and ones that were overwhelming voted least popular (if that was the case).
– Grapto Silver Star
– Short leave aloe
– Sedeveria
– Parrys agave
– Blue Sky Echeveria
My favorites are 1,3,12. In all honesty I would prefer pictures of real Succulents. There are so many beautiful plants to choose from that don’t need filtering to enhance their beauty.
Wow, your watercolor paintings are so vivid and vibrant. Very nice! Ok if I had to choose 4:
-Artichoke agave
-Blue sky echeveria
-Queen Victoria agave
-Short leaved aloe
How wonderful. I have enjoyed your books and seen you speak many times. This is such fun.
First, my favorites:
Agave Polly
Blue Rose echeveria
Blue Sky echeveria
Bumpy echeveria
Least favorite:
Parryi agave
Quadricolor agave
Sedeveria
Xmas agave
Favorites:
Queen Victoria agave
Sedeveria
Sempervivum
Quadricolor agave
Artichoke agave
Blue rose echeveria
Blue curls echeveria
All are beautiful!
Suggestions:
Bumpy echeveria- Love this painting but would like a more limited palette, ie blues, pink, lavender.
Short leaved aloe-Love this painting+it’s detail and form but would like it in more natural greens with even some tannish dried outer leaves.
Silverstar graptoveria- Love this, leave exactly as is but put it to a very dark background…even black!
Christmas agave- beautiful the way you captured the glassy reflective look of the bulbs. Would like maybe fewer agave leaves and a BIGGER one of your bulb!
Shaw’s agave- Think I’d love this even more with more of the olive tone greens and golds and less blue/green
Parryi’s agave- Love the colors but maybe need to show more of the whole plant’s form?
King Ferdinand agave- I like this but as it is similar the the Victoria, I would choose the latter for composition
Blue Sky echeveria- So pretty and would definitely be nice color contrast in the calendar to some of the other paintings.
Agave Polly Pelona-I Love this one, it’s just not a very favorite.
Oh, I love all. But I select.
Bumpy Echeverria
Blue Rose Echeverría
Agave Polly
Semper vivum
My favs are:
1) Blue Sky
2) Bumpy echeverias
I love the color, the artsy fartsy beautifulness and the way they fill the page!
3) Blue rose…because it is so realistic.
4) Perry’s agave…Love the depth and dimension. Especially the contrast of the sharp points in the foreground and the slight blur in the background.
I really appreciate your short videos on beautiful succulents and care tips. This is my second year looking at your water colors. All of then are beautiful but my favorites are the bumpy echeveria and the Queen Victoria agave.
Following are my 3 favorites.
So beautiful!
Agave polly pelona
Blue rose echeveria
Sempervivum
MY FAV’S ARE
QUEEN VICTORIA AGAVE
SEDEVERIA
SHORT LEAVED ALOE
LEAST FAV
SILVERSTAR GRAPTOURIA
KING FEATHERED AGAVE
Hi Debra,
My favorites are:
1. Bumpy echeveria
2. Blue sky echeveria
3. Parry’s agave
4. Sempervivum
5. Short- leaved aloe
My least is:
1. Xmas agave
2. Sedevora
3. Quadricolor agave
The ones that I didn’t mention are pretty nice also. But you wanted 3/4 favs lol you do beautiful work! Would love to have one of your calendars they are going to be beautiful would love to see it when they are all done!
Best Wishes,
Debra Lorimer
Debra,
You are so good at blending the colors!
I choose Artichoke Agave for the excellent blending of blues and grays
Blue Curls Echeveria should be made large and framed to hang up on the wall.
And King Ferdinad is another one of my favorites
There are so many good ones, Its too hard to choose
—Favorites—
Artichoke agave for the exquisite details & beautiful shape.
King Ferdinand agave for how well you’ve captured the beauty of this plant.
Parryi’s agave for the spiky little mountain silhouette leaves in various colors.
Queen Victoria agave for being so true to the plant and its stark white contrasting lines on the green leaves and the leaves contrasting with the red-orange pot. One just POPS!
Silver Star graptoveria for the shape and true-to-lifeness.
—Honorable Mentions—
Sempervivum doesn’t really look like any real sempervivum I’ve seen but the colors here are just excellent.
Shaw’s agave because native California plants REPRESENT! And it’s a very rare and endangered one on this side of the border. All but extirpated in San Diego County.
Short-leaf aloe for those colors!
—Not My Favorite—
Xmas Agave
Bumpy Echeveria
Quadricolor Agave
Bumpy Escheveria is my favorite! Keep it up. I enjoy gifting your work to friends here in Southern California!