Success With Succulents

Discover succulents with Debra Lee Baldwin, bestselling author of
Designing with Succulents, Succulent Container Gardens and Succulents Simplified

Welcome!

I'm pleased to offer you over 100 pages on every aspect of succulents, all ad-free. If that seems too good to be true, scroll down to "Why No Ads?"

Need a plant ID? Go to TYPES OF SUCCULENTS. Worried? Go to PESTS AND PROBLEMS. Want to grow succulents perfectly? Go to SUCCULENT CARE BASICS. Need garden maintenance? See REFERRALS. Do use the MENU and SEARCH BAR above. Overwhelmed? Browse until you're better, or CONTACT me.

Looking foR Videos?

Then you'll love my YouTube Channel. With over 9,000,000 views, it provides entertaining, expert info on succulent design, cultivation, plants, tips, gardens, and much more.

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.

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.

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.

Subscribe to My Newsletter and Receive

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

Debra Lee Baldwin's succulent potting demo (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

May 30 2025

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,…

Phúc Huynh of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

May 14 2025

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…

DIY succulent garden (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Apr 19 2025

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…

Large succulent garden of rescued plants (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Mar 18 2025

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…

Red striped aeonium succulents (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Mar 6 2025

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…

Why is my agave on its side? Snout weevil (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Feb 14 2025

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…

Melanie and Bob Buck in their garden, La Costa CA

Jan 30 2025

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…

Succulent garden alongside pathway (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Jan 23 2025

See a 60-Year-Old Succulent Garden

Come along with me on a tour of a marvelous, 60-year-old succulent garden in San Marcos, CA. Our host is Kevin Smith, a Palomar Cactus & Succulent Society (PCSS) member and the garden’s caretaker for the past 7 years. “It’s filled thousands of plants and hundreds and hundreds of species,” Kevin says, adding that the…

Dec 26 2024

DIY Succulent Bonsai

In my new video you’ll see succulent bonsai expert Anthony Neubauer prune roots and branches of a ‘Cork Bark’ portulacaria and stage it in an art pot. I use the term “succulent bonsai” loosely for potted succulents that suggest traditional bonsai, i.e. “the art of growing ornamental, artificially dwarfed trees or shrubs” (Webster’s). Succulent bonsai…

Nov 16 2024

Winter Care for Succulents

Your succulents may suffer in cold, wet weather unless you take precautions now. Do you know which ones are vulnerable and what needs doing? Find answers and preventative measures on these key pages of this site (no ads!) and in related videos on my YouTube channel. How to Overwinter Succulents: If you live in Zone…

Beaucarneas form a fairy-tale forest at Lotusland, near Santa Barbara (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Sep 27 2024

Yes, You Can Grow Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm)

In my new video, we observe and learn how to relocate a Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm) that had become too large for a homeowner’s side yard. “Betty” is a gorgeous specimen: ten to 12 years old, nicely branched, and 7 feet tall; with a 3-foot-diameter, half-ton caudex. No doubt you’ll marvel—as I did—at how Laura…

Mature euphorbia trees (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Sep 12 2024

South African Succulents at the Safari Park Garden

In my latest video, we explore the Old World Succulent Garden at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Here succulents small and large look good year-round, need minimal care or water, and are ideal for dry (but not desert or frost-prone) landscapes. You’ll see tough specimens to consider when planning or refreshing your own garden.…

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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.

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