Debra Lee Baldwin is an award-winning author, journalist and horticulturist credited with launching worldwide interest in succulents with her three bestselling books on succulents. With nearly 10,000,000 views, Debra's YouTube Channel provides reliable, entertaining info on design and cultivation, plus interviews with renowned succulent experts and tours of world-class gardens.

Debra Lee Baldwin
 

Need a plant ID? Go to TYPES OF SUCCULENTS.
Worried about your succulent? Go to PESTS AND PROBLEMS.
Hope to grow succulents perfectly? Go to SUCCULENT CARE BASICS.
Need garden maintenance? See REFERRALS.
Something else? Use the Search Bar or menus above.

succulents in the ground

HOW-TO'S, TIPS & IDEAS

SUCCULENT DESIGN

Discover how to plan and design lovely, carefree succulent gardens in containers and in the ground. Also under Design you'll find firewise landscaping info, DIY gifts and projects, and holiday decorating ideas - all beautifully showcasing succulents.

succulent being watered

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

SUCCULENT CARE

Get expert advice on growing, caring for and propagating succulents. Find out how to water, fertilize, control pests and diseases, overwinter succulents, grow them indoors, and by season and region. Under Varieties, view hundreds of labeled photos of easy-care kinds. 

succulents in pots on a windowsill

LOCAL & NATIONAL

SUCCULENT RESOURCES

Wondering where to find and purchase top-quality succulents? Which tools, books and supplies you need? It's all here under Resources, along with nurseries, public gardens and destinations in America's finest succulent city (San Diego) and beyond.

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Debra's 7 best succulents

In this free PDF exclusively for subscribers to my "Celebrating the Joy of Succulents" newsletter, you'll learn the 7 best easy-care succulents that thrive in pots and landscapes. Whether you're new to growing succulents or an experienced succulent "parent", you'll love these 7 beautiful plants.

Succulent Updates and Articles

Hanging prism bird feeders (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

How to Watch the Birds That Are Watching You

For resources and a gallery of “my” birds and their preferred foods, scroll to end.  In my new video, Watch the Birds Watching You? , I show how to observe, attract, and enjoy backyard birds. You’ll discover succulents that invite birds, best seed mixes (and which to avoid), and simple ways to provide water and…
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DIY Succulent Driftwood Designs

DIY Succulent Driftwood Designs When you make succulent driftwood designs, the plants resemble undersea flora, and the wood hints at something you’d see washed up on the beach. The two combine to make a special, almost fantasy-like composition that works well as a patio centerpiece or special gift for a friend. Driftwood pieces (from Sea…
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Julian Duval and Debra Lee Baldwin

Julian’s Secrets to Healthy, Happy Fat Plants (Pachyforms)

In my latest video, renowned succulent expert Julian Duval shares his secrets to keeping fat-trunked, potted succulents healthy and happy for decades. Such stout-stemmed succulents are pachyforms —a term that includes pachycauls and caudiciforms. Julian, a lifelong plant enthusiast, is former CEO of the San Diego Botanic Garden. This video is a sequel to my…
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Windowsill succulents with glass topdressing (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Succulent Windowsill Pots How-To and 7 Years Later

In my Succulent Windowsill Pots DIY here and on YouTube, you'll find out how to make a simple, colorful succulent windowsill garden. Whenever you glance out your window at work or home, you'll see and enjoy your living gems.
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Julian Duval (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Discover Julian Duval’s Personal Botanic Garden

You’re about to tour the garden of one of San Diego’s most endearing and knowledgeable plant experts: Julian Duval, retired CEO of the San Diego Botanic Garden. In my new video, you’ll see rare and unusual plants in pots, in the ground, and in an 18 x 24 greenhouse that Julian calls “a walk-in terrarium.”…
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Debra Lee Baldwin's succulent potting demo (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Create Potted Gardens of Colorful Aeoniums or Echeverias

New video: See my recent potting demo at the Palomar CSS Spring Festival It’s similar to the mounded, floral-style arrangements I did at Rogers Gardens. But instead of a hefty ceramic pot, I used a large, lightweight one from Lowes. Such pots… Are easily portable (I can lift the largest with one hand). Add height,…
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Phúc Huynh of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

12 Collectible Succulents Anyone Can Grow

At the recent convention of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America (CSSA) in San Diego, it was fun to catch up with old friends and meet collectors, and vendors from all over. To break the ice, and because I was curious what they’d say, I asked a dozen experts: Haworthias won by a narrow…
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DIY succulent garden (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Carol’s Cuttings and Craigslist Garden

Scroll down to see a gallery of Carol’s best-performing succulents, all ID’d. What Carol Kent has achieved on her quarter-acre lot shows what a homeowner can accomplish with a can-do attitude, a love of gardening, and minimal cost. A former boat captain, Carol created two distinctive succulent gardens: a sea-themed backyard with gorgeous plants and…
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Large succulent garden of rescued plants (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Jodi’s Grand Garden of Rescued Succulents

Jodi and John Visosky’s garden in Spring Valley, CA, showcases thousands of mature succulents on nearly an acre. Although the landscaping looks decades old, the large plants have been there fewer than five years. How’s that possible? The couple rescue and re-home cacti and succulents that are up for grabs. Most had become too big…
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Red striped aeonium succulents (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Red and Pink Aeoniums, Varieties and Care

I was excited to see “Carnival” Aeonium cultivars at Oasis Nursery in Escondido, CA.  A spokesperson for Altman Plants (which owns Oasis) told me these pink-and-ruby beauties “are going out to garden centers as a limited item through April.” To create new hybrids striped with red, pink, cream, green, or yellow, breeders likely crossed dark…
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Why is my agave on its side? Snout weevil (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Can We Still Grow Agaves in CA?

Eek! A Win for the Weevil? When I learned that the State of CA banned sales of the most effective snout weevil preventative to all but professionals, I envisioned the end of agaves in residential gardens, including my own. I have dozens, some huge—an aesthetic essential. If you grow agaves, you’re aware the snout-nose weevil will…
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Melanie and Bob Buck in their garden, La Costa CA

See an Award-Winning Waterwise Garden

This lovely La Costa, CA garden owned by Melanie and Bob Buck won their local water district’s WaterSmart Landscape Contest. It’s held annually by agencies throughout San Diego County to showcase attractive, water-efficient landscapes. My new video celebrates the Bucks’ street-side and courtyard gardens. Each has a colorful, easy-care mix of succulents and tropicals, and…
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I don't like (or trust) websites stuffed with ads, and I figure you don't either. It's ungracious to make visitors hunt for info buried amid commercials.

If you'd like to support me (thank you!): Obtain my books, watch my videos, and follow links to the few vendors I'm affiliated with. Want to use my text or photos? All I ask is attribution: Imbed the excerpt with a link to the page on this site that it came from.

Mainly, do learn from and enjoy my site. It's my pleasure to share a career's worth of information with you! -- Debra Lee Baldwin

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