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.

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.

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

Colorful Succulent Garden (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Apr 30 2019

A Colorful Succulent Garden to Copy

You could easily copy this colorful succulent garden at Weidner's nursery in Encinitas, CA. It's a three-dimensional showcase of succulents superbly suited to mild, frost-free regions. Most of the plants are readily available, and all are in my book, Designing with Succulents.  
Read More
Silver succulent pillow

Apr 23 2019

Shop Online at Succulent Chic

When you shop at Succulent Chic, my online Zazzle store, you'll find hundreds of gift and decorative items based on my very best succulent photos and paintings. In addition to my 2020 calendar, there are succulent throw pillows, mugs, greeting cards, coasters, and stretched canvas prints. 
Read More

Apr 18 2019

Succulents and Sass at Waterwise Botanicals

TThe 2019 Succulent Celebration was a giant, two-day party for succulent enthusiasts. Guests filled carts with perfectly grown plants, display gardens blazed with color, kids caught tadpoles, BBQ smoke scented the air, and the sounds of conversation and laughter were everywhere. On Saturday I shared the stage with nursery general manager and wannabe comedian Tom…
Read More

Apr 4 2019

Big Blue’s Life and Demise

The largest succulent ever to grace my half-acre garden was an Agave americana (century plant) we called "Big Blue." With 6-foot leaves lined with sharp teeth
Read More
Aloe mite (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Mar 29 2019

How to Manage Aloe Mite

They seem everywhere in spring: mite-damaged aloes ranging from dwarf cultivars to tree ‘Hercules’. The microscopic pests (Eriophyes aloines) are not insects but spider relatives. They cause deformed flowers, a bubbly fringe on leaf edges, and orange-and-green growths where leaves meet stems. Google “aloe mite treatment,” “aloe mite prevention,” “aloe gall” or “aloe cancer,” and you’ll discover that distinguished experts, landscape designers, succulent societies…
Read More
Overgrown succulent garden (c) Debra Lee Baldwin

Mar 11 2019

How to Redo an Overgrown Succulent Garden

Every three or four years I redo this succulent garden outside my office window. Last time was 1-1/2 years ago when I added the fountain. It’s an important view area because I spend so much time…uh…gazing outside instead of working. (I can’t help it. The fountain doubles as a bird bath.) In my YouTube video, How to Refresh an Overgrown Succulent Garden, I…
Read More
Sherman Gardens succulent garden

Feb 9 2019

A Garden of Collectible Succulents in Corona

Do you collect special succulents that you’d like to grow outdoors in your garden? If you’re in Southern CA, do visit the cactus and succulent garden at Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar, CA. It offers so many great tips and ideas! Imagine…a dear friend who lives in LA had never been to…
Read More
Newport Beach City Hall Garden

Feb 4 2019

Critique: Newport Beach’s Grand Succulent Garden

Discover what I like and what dismays me about Newport Beach’s grand Civic Center succulent garden. Do its plusses and minuses apply to your garden as well?
Read More
Mangave 'Red Wing'

Jan 25 2019

Plant Expert Tony Avent on Mangaves

According to plant expert Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC, “the world of mangaves is exploding. The colors and forms continue to break new barriers of previously inconceivable foliage.”  Founded in 1988, Tony’s nursery is a premier source of rarities and natives, and offers more than 1,400 kinds of perennials via mail-order. Plant…
Read More

Jan 24 2019

Testing Mangaves in My Garden

I’m testing more than 30 Mangave cultivars in my Zone 9b Southern CA garden. This is a report on the first batch of 14 that arrived two years ago from Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens, a wholesale perennial grower in Zeeland, MI. Hans is the world’s leading breeder of mangaves, and the first to reproduce them via…
Read More
Succulent garden

Jan 15 2019

New Videos, Great Takeaways from Jeanne Meadow’s Garden

Above: Wavy-leaved ‘Cornelius’ is Jeanne’s favorite agave. “It doesn’t get too big, can handle full sun and cold, and always looks good,” she says. I’m pleased to announce the release on my YouTube channel of two fun new videos: Jeanne Meadow’s Succulent Garden, Tips and Tour, Part One and Part Two. Topics covered in Part One: 0:38 Agave geminiflora bloom…
Read More

Why no ads?

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 it came from.

Mainly, do learn from and enjoy my site. It's my pleasure to share its wealth with you. -- Debra Lee Baldwin