This is so silly that I sort of like it. I mean, I found it to be sufficiently amusing to get a picture of it to send to Brent. It is a nice large urn, with an Aeonium arboreum that is a bit bolder than any of mine, and delightfully blue Senecio mandraliscae. It has nothing else going for it, but perhaps its simplicity is an asset. It might look junky if it contained any other well planned but comparably maintained material.
My only personal criticism of its design is that it is located on otherwise useful pavement, where pedestrian traffic must divert around it; but I am merely a horticulturist, not a landscape designer. For all I know, it could be there to intentionally soften the expansiveness of all that useful pavement, without occupying too much of it. I would also say that the urn should be outfitted with species that are more tolerant of the partial shade of its particular exposure, but obviously, these two simple species are reasonably happy there.
My more realistic criticism is of its implementation. Is it really too difficult for so-called maintenance ‘gardeners’ to maintain this as the landscape designer who designed it thought they should be able to? Must landscape designers design their landscapes with the expectation that their work will not be maintained as expected? Although it is delightfully silly, it might be more visually appealing if the Senecio mandraliscae cascaded a bit more over the edge. Alternatively, it could be confined to the upper surface of the urn if a third perennial were allowed to cascade somewhat over the edge; but again, I am no landscape designer. The urn is nice, but might be nicer with a bit of foliar color, form and texture over some of its exterior.
Tony Tomeo 
I can’t say that I am a fan of the color scheme of the planting either. The green of the aeonium doesn’t set off all the blue senecio well (wow, is auto-correct having issues with that sentence!) There’s such a range of colors in the succulent world–something more contrasting could have been chosen, particularly with such a neutral container.
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I find that it is easier to appreciate such design, or at least dismiss it, by not being proficient with it. I mean, because I do not know much about color, I can not complain about it much. Alternatively, if I dislike it, I can easily accept that it is merely because I know nothing of design or color. I know what I like, and I do not care if anyone else appreciates it. By itself, I sort of like the Aeonium because its color, form and texture remind me of the ‘owl’ motif that was so popular in the early 1970s.
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Kind of blah.
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Yes, but perhaps someone tried.
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Either of the succulents alone is fine. I think that I object to them together, particularly in that giant oversized container. But as I always say, if we all liked the same thing, we’d have a boring world. I hope that the person planting it at least liked it.
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I am so accustomed to contending with landscape problems that I try to imagine what the initial intention of the design was. I suspect that a designer intended for the Senecio mandraliscae to cascade a bit over that massive urn, which would have made it seem to be less oversized. It is likely oversized merely for the height. I also suspect that whomever did the installation mixed varieties that were not intended to be mixed. I mean, that Aeonium arboreum might have been intended for another urn with more compatible vegetation.
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