Fall In Love With Succulents

Tired of your houseplants and looking for a change from the ferns, peace lilies and African violets populating your windowsills and ledges? Consider growing some succulents.

Succulents, which are trending big time right now, are plants that can store water in their tissues and survive drought. The name comes from the Latin word “

succos

,” which means juicy. And juicy they are. Succulents have thickened leaves, stems, or roots where they can save water for dry times.

Succulents aren’t a plant family, as are cacti, but are found in more than 40 different plant families, including, surprisingly, those of geraniums and gesneriads, which include African violets and their relatives.

Succulents are showing up everywhere these days. Little ones are finding homes in dish gardens and open-topped terrariums. Larger ones are happy in pots.

For summer they can be fashioned into living wreaths that almost never need watering to stay green. Florists and designers are even using rosette-shaped succulents, such as echeveria—which have whorls of leaves arranged around a central point—in arrangements, party decorations, wedding favors and even bridal bouquets.

One of the reasons that these plants have become so wildly popular is that no matter how succulents stash their moisture, their drought tolerance makes them really easy to grow. Additionally, succulents look dramatic, whether they’re large or small. They’re not frilly and flowery. Instead, their lines are spare and clean. Their sculptural shapes are simple and sleek, and look contemporary.

These diverse plants take many forms. Their leaves may be fat and spoon-shaped, wedge-like, pointed, round like beads, oblong or flat.

Those who fall under their spell might come to think of

succulents as a tribe of space aliens or exotic characters from an anime cartoon. They most definitely exude a personality all their own.

There are curiosities, such as lithops, whose nickname, “living stones,” aptly describes their appearance. These South African natives look like pairs of pebbles just a couple of inches high that sit on the ground.

Many lithops are gray or brown (though some are green) with a wrinkled, veined surface that give them a distinctly stony look. When they bloom, an improbable daisy-like flower emerges from a seam between the two pebble-like leaves. They’re a real conversation starter.

Or there’s the ferociously toothed leaves of faucaria inspired by its nickname, “tiger’s jaws.” And the pudgy, softly fuzzy leaves of cotyledon came to be called “bear’s toes.”

How To Grow Succulents

These types of plants come from harsh environments in nature—arid deserts and rocky mountainsides, for instance—and they’ve adapted to those challenging conditions. Those growing them in pots, dish gardens or terrariums absolutely must not mist, water and fertilize them like more conventional kinds of houseplants. In fact, succulents thrive on neglect.

Critical to success is a very well-drained potting mix. You can find cactus mixes at garden centers that will work well, or you can mix your own growing medium. Try a blend of two parts potting soil, two parts sharp builder’s or horticultural sand, two parts compost and one part pea gravel or crushed pieces of an old clay pot. Add a tablespoon of bone meal or horticultural lime to each 2 quarts of the mix.

Rule number one (and two, three and four) for success with succulents is: Do Not Overwater. Water well when you plant them, to moisten the soil all the way through the pot, and then let the soil dry out before watering again.

If you want to encourage your succulents to bloom (most of them do, in their native environments) you’ll need to give them a rest period, generally in winter. Leave them alone until the leaves are at the point of shrivelling (they’ll start to look softer than usual) before you water.

You may only need to water succulents once or twice from November to March. Give them a sunny window. Most succulents don’t need to be fertilized. Household temperatures suit them fine, but keep the plants out of cold drafts.

Succulent Sources

Succulents are so endearing that they’ve been overcollected from the wild in places where they grow naturally in order to stock worldwide collector’s markets. To help preserve wild populations, be sure to buy yours from a trustworthy source.

Two local places you can find them is at Marders Garden Center and Nursery in Bridgehampton and Homeside Florist & Greenhouses in Riverhead. Two family-run online sources are Simply Succulents (simplysucculents.com) and The Succulent Source (thesucculentsource.com).

As with other kinds of endangered plants, just follow the rule that extremely cheap succulents are most likely to be collected from the wild rather than propagated by commercial growers.

10 Good Succulents to Grow

In addition to living stones and bear’s toes, here are more succulents to try.

Aeonium:

Rosette-form plants range in size from several inches to 3 feet tall. The clusters of leaves look like pinwheels on stems. Mostly green, though some have red-edged or coppery leaves.

Aloe:

A decided asset in the kitchen, where its clump of pointed, toothed leaves can provide a quick remedy for minor burns and cuts. Just cut off a piece of leaf, squeeze out the gel and apply it to your skin.

Crassula:

This genus includes the classic jade plant that was a favorite houseplant in generations past. It lives a long time and over years takes on a tree-like form. There are lots of other crassulas, too, and they have fat, smooth, oblong leaves. They may bloom in winter, spring or summer, depending on the species.

Echeveria:

Another group of rosette-forming plants, echeverias have thick stemless leaves.

Faucaria:

Also known as “tiger’s jaws,” these plants form low clumps of ferocious-looking small green leaves, white-spotted in some species, edged with white teeth.

Gasteria:

These plants, called “ox tongues,” have long, pointed tongue-shaped leaves that may be speckled with white.

Haworthias:

A group of beguiling little charmers with names like “fairy washboard” and “pearl plant.” Mostly under 6 inches tall, they have narrow, pointed, triangular- to wedge-shaped leaves that are dotted with white spots in different patterns.

Kalanchoe:

One species,

kalanchoe blossfeldiana

, is a familiar gift plant seen in flower shops and garden centers this time of year. The plants have shiny, thick leaves and are covered with cheerful clusters of small flowers in shades of pink, red, orange and yellow. Another species, called “panda plant,” or

kalanchoe tomentosa

, has fat, toothed leaves covered with white hairs.

Sedum:

Most gardeners know the flowering sedums that are mainstays of the perennial garden. But there’s an interesting houseplant amid the clan that’s called “burro’s tail.” It produces long, trailing stems lined with fat teardrop-shaped leaves that overlap. It’s perfect for a hanging basket in a sunny window.

Senecio:

This diverse genus, which gives us the daisy-flowered cineraria that’s a popular gift plant, also offers a hanging-basket novelty called “string of beads,” or

senecio rowleyanus

. It lives up to its name with long, trailing stems strung with round green bead-like leaves.