Caring for Succulents
Succulents for Hawaii, Florida, Tropics
Will succulents grow in tropical climates like Hawaii and Florida? You might assume so, considering succulents like the same conditions we do when on vacation: Plenty of sunshine, not too hot, breezy and balmy. However,
Read MoreSucculent Lovers’ Favorite Tools
Do you own the favorite tools of your fellow succulent lovers? Consider: We differ from other gardeners in that our prized plants can turn on us. Cacti, agaves, euphorbias and even aloes can act like dogs who resent having their nails trimmed. (I don’t know about yours, but my Chihuahua is a two-person job.)
Read MoreYour Autumn Succulent Checklist
This autumn succulent checklist will help you keep your prized plants snug and healthy during the fall and winter months.
Read MorePost-Summer Succulent Concerns
After a brutal, early-September heat wave, I address ten common, post-summer succulent concerns. You’ll see them in my a new six-minute video: Post-Summer Care for Succulents (6:49). It’s a candid, warts-and-all, behind-the-scenes, damage-control tour.
Read MoreLate Summer Succulent Care
These late-summer care essentials for succulents come from my own experience with growing hundreds of varieties for decades in my inland Southern CA garden. Excessive heat and sun can do as much damage as midwinter frosts. Here’s what I do routinely every year.
Read MoreSucculent Garden Maintenance: Tasks
Do these succulent garden maintenance tasks seasonally to keep your succulent garden healthy and looking good: Trim damaged or excessive growth
Prune succulents to show the beauty of the plants and keep them tidy. Use cuttings to
Succulent Garden Professionals: Referrals
Where to find or recommend a succulent garden designer or maintenance professional. Do you know or need someone skilled in this? Tell us!
Read MoreTen Tips for Establishing a Succulent Garden
These ten tips for establishing a succulent garden are from “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter subscriber George Tabora of Riverside, CA (between Los Angeles and Palm Springs). His tips are hard-won, based on trial and error.
Read MoreHow Rain Benefits Succulents
Here’s how rain benefits succulents: It provides dissolved minerals and washes away dust that inhibits photosynthesis; it dilutes and flushes salts and harmful chemicals that have built up in the soil from tap water; and it provides nitrogen essential to growth,
Read MoreWinter Care for Frost-Tender Succulents
Depending on where you live, here’s how to get frost-tender South African succulents—like crassulas (jades), euphorbias, senecios and aloes—through a North American winter.
Read MoreHow to Behead and Replant Echeverias
Fancy ruffled echeverias—those large, flowerlike succulents—eventually need to be beheaded and the rosettes replanted. This is a bother, but it comes with a benefit: New clones will form on old, headless stalks. But not always. Here’s how to ensure success.
Read MoreTen Autumn Succulent Must-Do’s
These seasonal succulent must-do’s are mainly for southern and coastal CA, from the Bay Area south. If you live beyond, please visit my site’s Succulents By Season and Region page.
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