Plants of the Week: Succulents

Succulents — both cold hardy and more tender — are a water-conscious plant. Easy care and attractive, these succulents provide high style when potted in containers in urban settings and in rock gardens, paths and challenging dry spots in the garden. A fabulous trend is to install a green living roof using succulents. This thick, verdant landscape will have a noticeable cooling effect on a residence.

Cold hardy succulents like Sempervium (Hens and Chicks) and Delosperma (Ice Plant) create conservation-minded landscapes in all climates. More tender succulents like Aloe, Aeonium, Echeveria, Crassula (Jade) and Senecio (Blue Finger) are ideal for Southern US climates, and make perfect indoor plants thanks to their ability to withstand dry, arid indoor conditions.

Two spiecies that show great color are Kiwi Aeonium with green foliage edged in red with bright yellow rosettes; and Campfire Jade with foliage that is light green-yellow when young, emerging to fiery red at maturity. Once gardeners discover the multitude of fascinating shapes and colors — and how easy these plants are to grow — they will be sold on adding succulents to their planting palette.

You can purchase an array of succulents from Monrovia Plant Catalog.