Robin Sweetser

Related Articles

Agaves are slow growing and long-lived, earning them the nickname, “century plant.” Sizes vary from tiny to huge, some with smooth strappy leaves, others toothed or prickly, as seen here. Hard to believe this living rock produces a lovely white or yellow daisy-like flower. Ever-popular jade plants can grow to be quite large and even blossom indoors. Native to the Brazilian rainforest, Christmas cacti have delighted generations of indoor gardeners with their exotic, satiny flowers. If you have purchased kalanchoe in bloom at Christmas-time only to have them never blossom again, you are not alone. They need to spend September through early December with 14 hours of complete darkness and ten hours of bright light per day to set buds. There are many sedums to choose from, offering a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors. Bearing leaves in decorative rosettes, echeverias grow best with 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day.

Do your houseplants droop from lack of attention? You don’t have to give up indoor gardening; just try a different type of plant. Succulents include a wide variety of plants such as cacti, aloe, kalanchoe, sedum and others from 60 different plant families. Native to arid regions around the globe, the one characteristic they share is their ability to store water for long periods of time. Some, like the aloes, store water in their thick leaves. Cacti and other plants with few or no leaves store water in their stems, while others store water underground in their roots. Often the only moisture some receive in the wild is in the form of dew, mist, or fog.

Heidi Hamblett of the Flower Kiosk in Portsmouth, N.H., says, “They are the most low-maintenance plants, as long as you have lots of sunshine. They need hardly any water so they are easy to take care of, but very rewarding.” The Flower Kiosk sells all sorts of succulents in four-inch pots and has some ready-made dish gardens too.

Succulents are a good starter plant for kids who especially like their weird and wonderful appearance. Some of these plants are truly bizarre looking, like something you'd see in a Dr. Seuss book. Others are quite beautiful and even reward your neglect with flowers.  As houseplants they ask only a spot on a sunny windowsill, south-facing is best, and a bit of water-never more than weekly. Some are dormant in winter and need even less water. You can go on vacation and not worry about these juicy jewels dying from neglect. Since they are about 90 percent water already, they can miss a few waterings with no ill effects. They prefer a fast draining soil. Regular potting soil is too heavy and will cause them to rot so try a mixture of one-third soilless mix, one-third coarse sand, and one-third perlite. Many succulents are fibrous rooted and do best in a shallow pot. Clay pots are better than plastic because they allow the medium to dry between waterings. Soggy roots spell certain death for these plants.

Pierre Latourette of Flora Ventures in Newmarket, N.H., a company that provides interior plantscaping for many homes and businesses in the Seacoast area, calls succulents an awesome group of plants. “The main limiting factor is that they are high light plants. Lighting is the biggest issue, especially in office situations but if you have good southern exposure or a bright atrium, you could use them. Succulents have evolved in high light situations and are adapted to it so they need sheer light energy to drive photosynthesis. Some of the succulents I like to use are jade plants (Crassula ovata). They can grow to be immense. Crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii also called Euphorbia splendens) produces many small but showy flowers in red, pink, yellow, or white. Yuccas are awesome plants if you have room. They will give you enough size to be a real focal point. Christmas cactus is in my top ten list of plants. If you have any house plants at all, you need to have at least one Christmas cactus.”  

Unusual looking but not rare, many succulents are readily available at your local greenhouse or garden center. The big box stores can't even kill them! Here are a few others to look for:

Lithops have the accurate common name "living stones" which pretty much describes what they look like. They have two fat leaves which are fused together with a slight crack between them. In late summer or early fall a yellow or white daisy-like flower emerges from the crack. Lithops look best if you get several different kinds and group them together in a dish garden. This South African desert plant gives new meaning to the term pet rock.

Aloinopsis is another rock-like succulent that has smooth, rounded leaves, but it bears its daisy-like flowers in late winter. Easy to grow, it tolerates long periods of dryness.

Echeveria is a large genus of plants, mostly native to Mexico, that resemble sempervivum, the hardy hens and chicks that we grow outside. They all share the same look with their rosette of fleshy leaves. The variations come in the leaf colors which can be bright green, red-tinged, pinkish, purple, blue-green, and even dusty gray.

Faucaria is called tiger jaws because the boat-shaped leaves have white spines along the edges that look like teeth. Native to South Africa it has inch and a half wide yellow blossoms in the summer. It needs to be kept dry in the winter when dormant.

Trichodiadema is a charming South African native that looks like an instant bonsai tree. Growing only six inches tall and wide, it has a thick root that grows above ground with a profusion of small, fleshy, gray-green leaves on top. It bears gorgeous magenta flowers in the spring and summer.

For more pictures of these and other succulents check out this website, www.gosucculent.com