Looking great in the crevice garden this month is our specimen of the Arizona native Dudleya saxosa ssp. collomiae. Through the years, we tried this succulent in several of our rock gardens with no success, until we planted one under a rock overhang, where it has thrived since 2018. As we suspected, winter hardiness wasn’t the issue, as much as it was keeping water off the plant in the cold months. Although the genus is named after Dr. William Dudley, Stanfords’ first head of the botany department, it’s hard to look at this and instead remember the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon character, Dudley Do-Right.
