Little Aeonium - The perfect mini tree for a Fairy Garden!

Makes a wonderful fairy garden mini tree.

Such a gorgeous succuelnt this Aeonium lindleyi var. viscatum 'Irish Bouquet' . Winter is the peak growing season for Aeoniums, and what we love about this Aeonium is it's fleshy leaves that have an unusual waxy/rubbery texture.

Makes an amazing miniature tree for a fairy garden! You could also prune more vigorously for a miniature shrub:

Can also be pruned to make a mini shrub for a fairy garden.

Definitely one of our faves right now.

Fickle Prickles 10th Birthday!

It is very hard to believe that it was this month 10 years ago when Kaye and I stood in line at the Business Registrar Office to officially register Fickle Prickles as a business. Wow, does time fly when you are having fun.

From humble beginnings we grew. To start with in 2007, we attended the Kalamunda Markets each month -  Packing up the back of the ute with a gazebo, a single table, plants and the living gifts we potted up during the course of the month:

Just over a year later, in early 2009, we officially launched our online store:

Ahh, the green background! :P

With both of us still working and studying full time, we kept plodding along - Each month attending the markets and each week delivering & posting online orders. We worked after hours and on the weekend; sometimes well into the night. We propagated and potted and sourced new plants, expanding our range as best we could, when we had spare time.

In 2015 we attended the Perth Garden Festival for the first time, having an absolute blast designing and creating our succulent display:

We have kept this tradition going each following year, designing a display based on a theme - 2016 was 'Under the Sea' and 2017 was 'Miniature Gardens'.

Also in 2015 both Kaye and I gave our notice at our respective jobs, and surged on with the business full time. In 2016 we redesigned our branding to what it is today, and developed a new online store and website.

Both Kaye and I are incredibly humbled to be able to work each day, on our own venture, doing what we both love to do. A big, huge thank you to all our regular customers who have supported us over the last 10 years.

What an adventure! Highs and Lows, we wouldn't change a thing.  What will the future bring? Only time will tell. Bring it on!


To Celebrate the double digits, we will be giving away some prizes and having a special birthday sale sometime in October. To find out more, and to be in the running for these delectable goodies, check out our Facebook page.

Winter Delights - Sedum makinoi 'Limelight'

It's winter! And do you know how we can tell? Because of the stunning colours that come out in our succulent babies! we just have to show everyone the colours that are coming out in Sedum makinoi 'Limelight' at the moment:

Usually lime green in colour (hence the name limelight), these little beauties are showing some amazing golds, burnt oranges and even browns in this cold weather. Such a stark contrast to the bright green colour you see in the foliage during spring and summer:

What are the differences between Crassula capitella and Crassula capitella ssp. thyrsiflora?

We have been receiving a lot of queries as to the physical differences between a Crassula capitella and a Crassula capitella ssp. thyrsiflora - So we thought we would share this comparison photo!

Crassula capitella ssp. thyrsiflora is commonly known as 'Red Pagoda'.

It has quite small triangular leaves that stack just like the original capitella, but just on a smaller scale. The plant itself is more compact, and will mass and clump into a mound no bigger than 10-15cm.

Thyrsiflora has olive green leaves that turn a dark burgundy colour with age.

Crassula capitella is a larger plant, that can grow up to 15cm tall (and sometimes taller).
The leaves themselves are wider and more fleshy, and don't grow as compact as the thyrsiflora.

The colours of the capitella are stunning, with shades of vivid pink and red coming through with age. The colours intensify in the cooler months.

Both are geometrically amazing to look at, and look wonderful in potted succulent gardens.

Perth Garden Festival 2017

We are very excited to be attending the Perth Garden Festival again this year. Located at Mcallum Park in Victoria Park, PGF2017 will run over 4 days from Thursday 27th April to Sunday 30th April.

What's on offer?

This year, expect to see new varieties in all our ranges that are yet to be seen on our website, with bulk buy offers available. We will have cacti, lithops and larger succulents on offer, as well as a new range of miniature houses and furniture that we will be launching at the festival!

A sneak peak of the Classics that will be available at the festival.

Sun loving collectables

as well as collectables that prefer shadier positions.

Larger Succulents and Cacti will be available.

and Large Stapeliae too... This one is just about to flower!

A wide range of cacti...

and lithops too!

We will also be introducing a new range of miniature houses and cottages at the festival.

Displays!

We have been busy bees planning our display for this year, which will have a strong focus on miniature gardens. Hopefully it will provide ideas and inspiration on how to incorporate succulents, perennials and miniature gardens into your home and backyard! See photos of our under the sea display from last year!

To find out more about the Perth Garden Festival 2017, head on over to their website: perthgardenfestival.com

A Winner has been Chosen!

We were completely inundated with photo entries to our DIY Valentine's Day Competition - You are all so very talented! It makes our job deciding a winner that much harder.

We are very pleased to announce that the winner of a $20 Fickle Prickles voucher is Sharon from Willetton! Congratulations to Sharon, who created this very cute Valentine's terrarium.

We would like to thank everyone who entered, and hope that your loved ones enjoyed all of your DIY succulent creations.

New species - just in time for Christmas!

It is almost Christmas yet again, and boy has it come around quickly!
2014 has been an exciting roller-coaster ride to say the least, and we would personally like to thank you all for your continued support over the past year.

We are very happy to report that our brand new greenhouse is now completed, and with all this extra space plant production is very much in full swing!

Be sure to keep an eye out for all the new varieties which we will be releasing in the next couple of weeks. As a little Christmas treat, we thought we would introduce 5 new species before the New Year, as a sample of things to come.

From everyone here at Fickle Prickles, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

We are off to Spoga Gafa in Germany!

What on earth is Spoga Gafa you may be asking? ...

Spoga Gafa is a 3 day international garden industry trade show held in the beautiful city of Cologne, Germany. Nearly 40,000 visitors attend the trade show each year, and we here at Fickle Prickles are lucky enough to be one of those visitors!

We are hoping to bring back to Australia fantastic gardening ideas and creative concepts that we can pass onto you, our fellow cactorians!

What does this mean for you?

Our online store will be temporarily closed from the 15th August 2014 to the 8th September 2014.

Orders may still be placed during this time, but will not be processed until the 8th of September.

YES...
We will be at both the August Kalamunda Markets this Saturday the 2nd August 2014
AND
the September Kalamunda Markets on Saturday the 6th September 2014 (with a small amount of jet-lag...)

Succulent Garden Raffle Prizes

Howdy, fellow Cactorians!

I just wanted to share with you some succulent gardens I have just potted up! These beauties will be raffled off each show night of Phoenix Theatre's production of Alice in Wonderland :)


So, if your in Perth and looking for a great night out, head on down to Phoenix Theatre, Cnr of Carrington Rd and Rockingham Rd, Hamilton Hill and come see this magnificent Musical Production.

Full of laughs, this pantomime adaptation of Lewis Caroll's story come to life on stage with stunning costumes, great performances and yes... audience participation!

Opens this Thursday, 24th November. Runs until 4th December, tickets are $20 Adult and $15 Concession. And hey, you never know, you may win the raffle and be the proud owner of one of these succulent gardens!

See Phoenix Theatre's profile on Theatre Australia for more information.

October Kalamunda Markets Stock

Despite the fact that it is bucketing down outside, I managed to run out between showers and take some photos of our stock for the October markets coming up this weekend:

In this photo: Crassula Anomala and Sempervivum tectorum

I love sempervivums at the moment! They colours and the shapes of the leaves are just stunning! I don't think these will last long at the markets...

And these two matching Euphorbias shall hence be known as Tweedlee and Tweedledum!

According to weatherzone.com.au, showers will clear by Saturday :)

Roleystone/Kelmscott Bushfires

Well, once some of the roads in Roleystone were declared safe for the public to go through again after the bushfire that wrecked havoc last weekend, we took a wander down Canning Mills Road and were absolutely devestated at the destruction to the Darling Range.

This photo just doesn't show justice to the hectares upon hectares of bushland that were completely destroyed, not to mention the countless number of houses that were demolished to the ground within minutes. It is truly remarkable that no one was hurt.

I would like to give a massive shout out to the awesome fire fighting departments of Perth and the countless volunteers who put their lives on the line for so many hours on end to battle the massive blaze. Also a BIG thank you to the Salvation Army for feeding our fire fighters, and to the ABC radio for keeping all of us up to date on the latest alerts and warnings. without you we would have truly been really lost!

If anyone would like to make a donation to those who have lost their homes, please go to
The Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund Website .

Or, to help contribute to those awesome Salvos who helped out, please visit
The Salvation Army Website.

Roleystone/Kelmscott Bushfires

Thank you everyone for all the kind messages we received over the past day or so.
Everyone is safe and our property was spared from the bushfires.
Thank you so much for all of your support.

Not everyone was as lucky though, over 65 houses have been completely destroyed, and even more have been damaged in the Roleystone/Kelmscott area of Western Australia. Our hearts go out to those involved.

If you would like to make a donation to those in need from the Perth Hills Fire, Please head to:
The Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund Website

Easter Gifts

Don't forget the Kalamunda Farmer's Twilight Easter Market is on tonight, Wed 31st March and we have a stall there with lots of Easter Gifts!!! It runs from 5 - 8pm.

If you miss that one, we also have our usual stall at the Rotary Kalamunda Markets this Saturday, 3rd April - 9am - 4pm. Both are located on Barber St in Kalamunda.

Market Stall

The Roleystone Autumn Festival was a great success and we would like to thank all those involved in making our stall possible.

This makes our third installment of market/fair fun-ness, with the last two being at the Kalamunda Markets which was also heaps of fun and very successful.

Next up is the Southlands Willetton Rotary Community Fair which will be on this Sunday, the 28th March, 10am to 4pm. It is at the Burrendah Reserve, Corner of Pinetree Gully Rd & Burrendah Blvd, Willetton. Hope to see you all there!

We will also still continue to be at the Kalamunda markets every month, on the first Saturday of each month. We're located on Barber Rd, just outside the post office.

Website Construction

There has been some major progress in completing our website/online store. We hope to be up and running very, very soon!

we are working hard at getting an online store integrated as soon as possible... stay tuned folks!