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.

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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.

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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

Debra Lee Baldwin in her succulent garden

Mar 11 2016

Debra’s Own Garden

My goal with my own garden is to create a three-dimensional art form that serves as a backdrop for videos, photo shoots and casual get-togethers. Whether in books, photos, videos or presentations-or with plants, rocks, and sweat—I’m invariably about entertaining and sharing in equal measure. It’s one way I define joy. Yours truly in the lower garden with…

Mar 10 2016

Use Crushed-Rock Top Dressing to Enhance Your Succulent Designs

Do consider using crushed-rock top dressing to enhance your succulent designs. In the ground or in pots, your succulent compositions will look and perform better if bare soil doesn’t show. Top dressing lends a finished look, and plants benefit from the way it disperses water. In the open garden, soil exposed to sunlight is…

Greenhouse for succulents in display garden

Mar 4 2016

Succulents at the Spring Home/Garden Show

At San Diego’s Spring Home Garden Show, I share tips for keeping succulents healthy, happy and looking their best. I’m in a big exhibit hall, so turn on closed captions if background noise is a problem. Topics in the video: 0:20 Rule of thumb for watering succulents 0:52 How much sun do succulents need, stressing…

Mar 1 2016

Debra’s DIY Quick, Easy, Colorful Succulent Container Garden

To make my my quick, easy and colorful succulent container garden, you’ll need a 12-inch container, “cactus mix” potting soil, a piece of window screen to cover the hole (optional), one large echeveria (like ‘Afterglow’) to go in the center, several nursery pots of Graptosedum ‘California Sunset’ (or similar), and a fine-leaved sedum for tucking…

Feb 17 2016

Why Grow Succulents?

There are numerous reasons why succulents have become so popular. Many more people are growing succulents nowadays because the plants… Are a good lawn alternative for regions with water shortages. Are fire-resistant plants for backcountry gardens prone to wildfire. Are easy to cultivate and propagate. Need minimal maintenance. Range in size from ground covers to trees. Have pleasing…

Feb 17 2016

How Not To Kill Succulents

Above: In my popular YouTube playlist all about Succulent Basics, I explain… what you need to know what to avoid doing how to keep your succulents healthy, happy and looking their best. How to Kill Succulents according to a New Yorker Whatever we’re cheerfully crazy about on the West Coast is dismissed by somber-clothed subway…

Feb 5 2016

Should You Let Your Flapjack Plants Bloom?

Should you let your flapjack plants (Kalanchoe luciae) bloom? I’m recommending no…but it’s not that cut-and-dried. Flapjack plant is a succulent that’s popular mainly because of the color of its leaves. (Shown above at Waterwise Botanicals nursery.)f Like other succulents with overlapping leaves along a single stem, when Kalanchoe luciae blooms, the entire plant elongates. This is how those in my…

Jan 19 2016

Rick’s Aloe and Butterfly Garden

The current population of monarch butterflies is a mere 4% of what it formerly was. These once ubiquitous butterflies are on the brink of extinction. Anyone with even a small garden, in any part of the US, can help reverse this sad trend. I knew that Rick Bjorklund’s garden in San Diego would delight me with…

Jan 6 2016

Succulents and Too Much Rain, A French Solution

Want to protect your succulents from too much rain? Here’s how the Jardin Zoologique Tropical in southeastern France keeps their succulents from becoming waterlogged during seasonal rainstorms. Corrugated fiberglass panels atop metal bars tent the plants so excess rain doesn’t soak the soil. The structures are tall enough to allow good air circulation, and the panels are translucent, enabling maximum sunlight to reach the plants. The…

Dec 3 2015

Holiday Decorating with Succulents

Above: Using succulent cuttings from my garden, I create a wreath suitable for an entry, garden wall or gate. Such wreaths also work well as table centerpieces (laid flat) and make great hostess gifts. Quick & clever decorating ideas This time of year, the succulent elves bundle up, go into the garden, and transform it into…

Dec 3 2015

Make a Succulent Wreath, Step-By-Step

Make a Succulent Wreath, Step-by-Step No soil needed! I recommend making a soil-less succulent wreath because soil is messy, heavy, dries out quickly, and—surprisingly—isn’t necessary. Cuttings readily root into a moss-filled form. I also don’t recommend fertilizing the wreath after cuttings have rooted, because fertilizer boosts growth, and I want my wreaths to stay compact. …

Nov 20 2015

Succulent Wreath Tips and Ideas

THIS PAGE HAS BEEN UPDATED. Go to: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent-projects/make-a-succulent-wreath/ Do you like the succulent wreath that my friend Denise made during a wreath party at my home? To create a similar one, you’ll need about 100 cuttings, a wire wreath form, 24-gauge florist’s wire, a chopstick, and a bag of sphagnum moss. The form, moss…

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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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