Reading time: 3 minutes
If you feel like you don't have enough time, and something is missing in your garden, we recommend paying attention to perennial Succulents! After all, they ideal for busy gardeners who want to enjoy their garden, but cannot always find time to care for the plants.
Succulents are a large family of plants that are known for their ability to store water in their stems and leaves. As a result of this feature, they tolerate long periods of drought by using previously stored nutrients and water.
In addition, succulents look very unusual, and it will give an exotic look to your garden. It is difficult to pass by Succulents without taking a closer look at them, as they are very different from ordinary garden plants.
Growing in a container
One of the easiest and most practical ways to grow Succulents in the garden is use container. Cold, wet winters can be especially destructive to succulents. And by planting them in containers, you can safely experiment with fancy shapes, colors and textures, creating beautiful flower beds. At the same time, you will protect them from freezing in the winter months, because the container can be easily brought indoors when frost sets in.
A panel of plants placed on a fence
What container or pot should I use? Everything is limited only by your imagination. Shallow bowls are ideal for growing these plants. Some especially creative gardeners make magnificent wall panels from these flowers.
Place the plant in a warm and sunny location. You need to avoid excess humidity and shade. Since Succulents are not accustomed to such conditions and quickly begin to rot.
Wintering species
Succulents come in different shapes, sizes and colors. But if you want to start with something really simple and reliable, then plant Sedums or Sempervivums. These perennials are among the hardiest succulents and can survive even winter if they are protected from excessive cold and moisture..
Flowers planted in wooden containers
Once you get more experience with them, you can start growing something more unusual, such as Pachyphytum, Aeonium or Echeveria. But while these plants love to grow outside during the summer months, they will need protection in the winter. If you don't have a suitable greenhouse, then during the cold weather you can bring them into the house and grow them like ordinary indoor plants.
Caring for garden plants
Outdoor Succulents tolerate periods of drought, but still you need to water them regularly throughout the growing season. If the soil is dry a few inches down, water the flower generously and then let the soil dry out again.
Most common problem that occurs in these plants is rot. Keep the stems away from the soil and allow the soil to dry out between waterings. Also, water at the base of the plant to keep the leaves dry. This will help avoid rotting.
If necessary, dead stems and shoots can be removed. The shoots can be used as seedlings. Place them in well-drained soil and care for them until their roots become fully established. After this, you can plant the resulting plants in open ground in your garden or country house.
We offer you a short overview video of succulent plants in the garden:
Thick, water-filled leaves and stems of sedums are designed in such a way that they are able to retain the resulting moisture for a long time. The name of the Crassulaceae family is interpreted as “eternally living,” and indeed, these succulents are extremely adaptable creatures to the gardener’s inattention. And the propagation of these plants is not particularly difficult. Let's get to know them better
In the modern classification from sedums, or sedums, a group of plants separated with taller straight stems (50-70cm), paniculate inflorescences in the shape of a dome, with bell-shaped flowers that did not open to the stars, which received name sedum (Hylotelephium). Sedum blooms from late July to September, making worthy company for summer and autumn garden plants.
The most recognizable representatives of the genus are Sedum spectabile (Hylotelephium spectabile) and found in forests and glades of the Non-Black Earth Region Sedum telephium (Hylotelephium telephium). A wide variety of garden varieties and hybrids have been created with pink, purple-red, beige or white flowers, differing in height and leaf color. The textured leaf pattern supports the decorative appearance of green-leaved sedum (Brilliant, O. telephium).
Throughout the season, their compact bushes harmonize with the linear leaves of cereals, irises, and daylilies. Speaking about the green leaves of sedum, it should be noted that most of them have a more or less pronounced bluish bloom, which is most clear at dawn and practically disappears in the warm colors of the sunset rays. Ornamental leaf plants can produce single species stems with green leaves, which should be removed so that the bush does not turn into a progenitor. Variegated bushes of Frosty Morn or Mediovariegatum can be used to dilute a border of hostas or to edge a flower arrangement, interspersing them with green-leaved varieties.
You should not plant them only with other variegated plants. Filling the garden with sedums with green-red, purple and brownish leaves such as Purple Emperor should also be treated with caution. Otherwise, it’s easy to get a dark, failed spot in the flower garden or make gloomy borders. At the same time, this color gives win-win options in combination with beige, yellow, silver, dark green and crimson, lilac-pink.
Read also: DIY mini garden of succulents
Plant astilbes, early-blooming chrysanthemums, and chrysanthemums with these sedum plants.
You have to wait half the summer for the sedum to bloom - during this time its leafy attire becomes so familiar that the flowering is perceived as an unexpected gift. The violent opening of inflorescences, present even on the smallest and youngest shoots, turns the bush into a blooming bouquet.
To complete the golden leaf border, choose a sedum variety with bright pink, red or crimson ( Red Cauli with dark green leaves on reddish stems) inflorescences, and for green leaves - with white ( Gooseberry Fool and Iceberg with dark green leaves), light green-lemon inflorescences (low border variety with green leaves, Citrus Twist).
THE VIBRANT OPENING OF THE BLOWERS OF THE SCRUM, PRESENT EVEN IN THE SMALLEST AND YOUNGEST SHOOTS, TURN THE BUSH INTO A FLOWING BOUQUET
Based on shades of pink and crimson, with the participation of sedum Rosenteller, Korean chrysanthemum and paniculata hydrangea, it is easy to create an autumn trio that will decorate any corner of the garden until October. If you like more contrasting solutions, then plant sedum Matrona next to spirea Golden Princess, add yellow Korean chrysanthemum flowers and purple heuchera leaves to the first row, and as a background plant choose any shrub with green leaves, such as openwork and translucent dwarf birch. White-beige flowers with greenish-lemon centers on bright crimson sedum stems look elegant. Hab Gray(dark green leaves with a dark purple-red center, spreading out into a reddish mist towards the edges).
In a garden that needs to be decorative throughout the season, it is better to combine them with gray fescue. It will delicately dilute the dark color during the period of growth and budding of sedum. Types of sedums with star flowers, forming thickets pressed to the ground, are, as before, classified as sedums.
Blooming half as tall as sedum false sedum (Sedum spurium).
Its overwintering fleshy leaves can be green, variegated ( Tricolor), purple ( Purple Carpet). Flowers, depending on the variety, range from pink to crimson and purple-red.
Sedum Rural (Sedum selskianum) differs in the shape of the leaves and yellow flowers. Their place is in rocky compositions, on hills among gravel; They are not suitable for the border and foreground of a flower garden due to uncontrolled growth in different directions.
U Sedum Kamchatka (Sedum kamtschaticum), as with s. false, there is a variegated variety Variegatum, but the leaves do not overwinter. The shoots of the plant become woody and in the spring they appear as reddish hard cords, which are beautifully overgrown with succulent young leaves, especially bright in the decorative leaf form. The lush clumps of the plant resemble compact bushes that can be successfully grown along paved paths exposed to the sun.
Sedum's Jackets CAN BECOME AN UNpretentious HIGH EDGE AND A GOOD SECOND ROW OF A FLOWER BED. PLANT FLOWERS FROM LATE JULY TO SEPTEMBER
Sedum reflexus (Sedum reflexum) from a distance it looks like a miniature forest of fir trees. The height of the plant is 15-20 cm, and the creeping and rooting stems along the entire length are longer and form cushion-shaped thickets that easily “absorb” small and medium-sized stones encountered along the way. Variety Cristatum with originally curved leaves that look like light green scallops, it is quite whimsical.
It does not always please with truly solid large ridges, which, as they grow, turn into strange shoulder blades lying on the ground. It is interesting that the inflorescences of the variety partially turn into comb-like processes with a row of flowers at the top. When planting these sedums, do not forget that they create large spots of color, which are especially noticeable in decorative leaf forms and during flowering.
True, their short stature makes it possible to take into account their color combinations only with the closest neighboring plants. They look great on rocky hills, next to creeping coniferous plants, and they benefit when combined with forms with blue and dove, as well as with golden needles.
All sedums absolutely cannot stand the proximity of crops with more aggressive roots, and the smaller the plant, the more sensitive it is. It is not without reason that it is found in nature almost throughout the entire territory of Russia. sedum acrid (Sedum acre) not only finds vegetation-free sandbanks of rivers, roadsides, and light pine forests, but also releases toxic substances that oppress neighboring plants. In garden compositions with. caustic forms a low golden mat that completely covers the soil. There are forms with white (f. alba) and yellow (f. aureum) leaves.
Looks more lacy white sedum (Sedum album). The species plant resembles the previous species; its fleshy leaves also do not exceed 5 cm in height; It is only during flowering that the difference becomes apparent. White sedum blooms with white stars, collected in large paniculate inflorescences on almost bare crimson stems. The purple anthers give the flowers a slight pinkish tint.
U f. atropurpurea chocolate red leaves and stems. Another covering covering is sedum spanish (Sedum hispanicum). This plant is loved for its cloud of snow-white blooms and for the diamond-like shine of dew or raindrops on its delicate, thin, fleshy bluish leaves. Unfortunately, s. Spanish is not a perennial and dies after flowering. This significant drawback is often compensated for by active self-seeding, and in this case gardeners do not even notice the change of generations. Otherwise, it is not inferior to the previous species and is actively used as a ground cover plant with a height of only 5-6 cm.
For more whimsical exotic small fry, it is advisable to arrange gravel gardens in flowerpots, free up the best spots in rock gardens, where to place them in a motley mosaic.
Sedum Oregon (Sedum oreganum) Procumbens refers to such highlights. The amount of red in the color of this variety varies depending on the lighting - even slight shading can turn the variety into a species-specific green-leaved plant.
This is a highly decorative, relatively winter-hardy perennial with evergreen leaves that look like candy canes. It blooms extremely rarely with yellow flowers. Sedum spatulafolia (Sedum spathulifolium) it looks more intriguing in the form of a subspecies, the leaves of which, like mold, are covered with a white powdery coating. A distinct representative with bluish-purple and white leaves is the variety Cape Blanco .
No less original are the varieties in which red flashes shine through the white coating on the greenish leaves; the Purpureum variety is very interesting with young leaves in the form of white roses and old ones - purple. If you are lucky, the plant will delight you with low, up to 10 cm, flower stalks with yellow star flowers. Evergreen sockets thick-branched sedum (Sedum pachyclados) resemble plants of the genera Rhodiola and Molodilo.
The species is rarely found in gardens, as it grows poorly and often freezes, and blooms even less often. In central Russia, flowering is a great success, so even a small number of white stars appearing on the side of the rosettes is truly a huge achievement.
ALL Sedums ABSOLUTELY CANNOT TOLERATE THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CROPS WITH MORE AGGRESSIVE ROOTS, AND THE SMALLER THE PLANT, THE MORE SENSITIVE IT IS
Unpretentious and easy to care for, succulents are used to decorate garden plots, alpine slides and decorate window sills. Accustomed to temperature changes, easily tolerating lack of watering, bright sunlight or prolonged partial shade - ideal for a beginner or not too attentive gardener. Succulents differ in leaf shape and size, so we suggest looking at photos with names from the catalog. From this article you will also learn how to properly care for these unique plants.
Succulents: photos and descriptions
Agave
Agave americana and Agave Queen Victoria are varieties of this plant. Hard, dense leaves of green, dark green or green with yellowish stripes. The edge of the leaf is sharp. The leaves grow in a circle from the central leaf. The plant requires a temperature of 8 to 21 degrees, watering once a month and no direct light. Agave americana rarely blooms; Queen Victoria is not a flowering plant.
Adenium
It has a tree-like trunk and many small leaves. Loves warmth and moisture. Spray the leaves of the plant once a day, water once every three to four days. Comfortable temperature not lower than 12 degrees. Blooms infrequently, producing many pink small flowers.
Adromiscus
A plant with thick, downy, spotted leaves, loves watering and light partial shade.
Adromiscus Photos
Aloe
Thin, sharp, dark green leaves grow in a circle. It does not require special care. The plant is low and rarely blooms. There are several varieties of aloe: aloe tree, squat, folded fan, variegated, spinous. A variety such as aloe squat has healing properties.
Photo of aloe
Anacampseros
Ampelous succulent. Purple shoots with small, fleshy green leaves. Loves moisture and sunny color. It weaves well. Blooms profusely with pink flowers of regular shape.
Apthenia
A low, sometimes climbing plant with fleshy, rounded leaves and small flowers. Requires abundant watering and good lighting. The temperature should be maintained at a level not lower than 18-20 degrees.
Argyroderma
A tiny perennial plant consisting of two fleshy gray-green leaves that face each other and form a cup-like shape. Blooms once every few years. The flower is comparable in size to a plant and has pink or white petals. Water as the soil dries out in summer and once a month in winter. Fertilize in summer. Avoid direct sunlight.
Brighamy
A rather tall succulent with a tree-like trunk and large dark green leaves. Tolerates high summer temperatures up to 30 degrees. The temperature in winter should not be below 15 degrees. Requires high air humidity and spraying of leaves. Illumination is moderate, fertilizing with phosphorus fertilizers. Blooms in winter.
Brighamia Photos
Gasteria
A perennial herbaceous plant with green leaves collected in rosettes. Varieties: Gasteria Armstrong with round, hard leaves, holly-leaved Gasteria spotted, warty, tiny. High temperature and light, and low humidity are suitable conditions for gasteria. When flowering, an arrow appears, at the end of which there are several bell-shaped flowers. The plant is replanted every two to three years.
Gasteria Photos
Graptopetalum
The plant of the Crassulaceae family is medium-sized and tough. Dense leaves with a sharp edge. The leaves are collected in rosettes or bushes. Easily tolerates bright sun and high temperatures in summer. In winter, during the dormant period, it can withstand temperature drops of up to 5 degrees. Watering is infrequent: in summer once every 15 days, in autumn and winter - once a month. It begins to bloom in the second year and can bloom all summer.
Dorstenia
A plant with a tree-like trunk and long, narrow light green leaves. The plant is thermophilic and easily tolerates high temperatures. Requires high light and low humidity. Watering once every 10 days in summer, once every three weeks in winter. The flowers look like green boxes.
Zamioculcas
Several stems, thick at the bottom and thin at the top, and many green, dense, oval-shaped leaves. The plant can reach a height of one and a half meters. Tolerant to high temperatures, but does not tolerate direct sun and excessive watering. Watering should be no more than once a week in the summer and once every three weeks in the winter. Grows well in light, loose soils. Blooms infrequently. During the flowering period, it produces an arrow, at the end of which there is a small flower.
Conophytum
A low-growing plant consisting of fused round dense leaves, ranging in color from green-gray to dark brown. Tolerates temperature changes, low humidity and bright sunlight. Watering is moderate, once every 15-20 days. Blooms in late summer or autumn. When flowering, it produces an arrow from the junction of the leaves and a small yellow flower.
Cotyledon
A plant with a tree-like stem and numerous thick leaves. It can grow up to two meters high. Cotyledon is not afraid of temperature changes and dry air. When caring, you should try not to over-moisten the soil, watering infrequently. Flowering occurs rarely, mostly in autumn. The flowers are shaped like stars of dim colors.
Rejuvenated
It is believed that this plant requires virtually no care. It consists of many small hard leaves collected in a rosette, the diameter of which can reach 20 centimeters. Loves bright sun and low humidity. Temperatures in summer are up to 30 degrees, in winter up to 5 degrees Celsius. When watering, try to prevent water from getting into the outlet and accumulating at the base of the plant. It blooms in summer, producing long thin stalks with small flowers.
Photo of succulent Molodilo
Oscularia
Perennial bushy plant. The leaves are green-gray, small, fleshy. The plant tolerates hot, dry air and bright sun well. Watering is moderate, the soil should dry out a couple of centimeters deep between waterings. Grows well in light soils. Blooms in summer with small pink flowers.
sedum
Perennial plant of the Crassulaceae family. Different types of sedums have sizes from dwarf 8-10 cm to 1 meter. The leaves are small and dense. It tolerates temperature changes easily; in summer temperatures up to 30 degrees are allowed. Bright sunlight and low humidity are suitable for this succulent. In summer, sedum is watered generously once a week, during the dormant period - once every two to three weeks. Avoid stagnation of moisture. The plant blooms rarely, the flowers resemble stars.
Sansevieria
Succulent with dense lanceolate leaves. Some species can reach a height of 1.5 meters. The leaves are collected in several pieces in rosettes. An absolutely unpretentious plant. Comfortable temperature 16-25 degrees, easily tolerates dry air, bright sun and infrequent watering. When watering, you need to make sure that water does not get into the middle of the outlets. The plant blooms with small flowers with a strong scent.
Stapelia
Perennial succulent with numerous branching stems. Room temperature in summer, low humidity and bright sunlight will create conditions for good plant development. In summer, the slipway is watered once every 12-15 days; in winter, it is not necessary to water it. Replant in spring every two years. The flowers are large and have an unpleasant odor.
Crassula
A bushy plant with small, succulent leaves ranging in color from bright green to reddish brown. An easy-to-care plant that is resistant to high and low temperatures and dry air. In summer, abundant watering is required. Tolerates bright sunlight well. Blooms from late summer to mid-winter. There are many varieties of Crassula: oval, rocky, silver, clubmoss, etc.
How to care for succulents
Miniature plants are quite easy to care for, but you still have to follow some rules. Succulents are desert plants, so they love dry climates and temperature changes. Of course, you will not be able to create natural conditions for their growth, since in African countries temperature differences are up to 25 degrees.
When growing succulents of any kind, try to ventilate the room and at the same time monitor the humidity, as these plants do not like very humid air. Pots with flowers are best placed on windowsills on the south side, as succulents love the sun and good lighting - an integral part of caring for them. Some species do not grow well in direct sunlight, so you should take this into account when choosing a succulent variety.
Depending on the time of year, room temperature and humidity, you will need to create a watering schedule for your succulents. In winter, it is recommended to water about 2 times a month, and from spring to autumn it can be done almost every week, depending on how dry the soil is. The soil in the pot should remain dry for a maximum of 3-4, so be careful not to let the roots dry out.
Read the article: succulents for tropical florarium
Under natural conditions, succulents grow in sandy soil, so you can choose a special soil composition that will allow air to pass through well and not retain moisture. You can buy ready-made soil at the store and then add nutrients to it. Some gardeners advise adding activated carbon to the soil, as it absorbs moisture well and protects plant roots from rotting.
It is important to replant succulents in a timely manner, especially if the plants are young. It is recommended to replant adult plants every two years, and young plants annually. It is best to do this in the spring, but not during flowering or the appearance of buds.
Succulents need fertilizer just like other plants, so you can pick up a special mixture at a flower shop. Make sure that your succulent fertilizers contain a minimal amount of nitrogen, as it causes root rot. Succulents are fertilized in the spring, and the concentration of the compounds should be lower than for feeding other plants. In winter, it is better not to fertilize these plants, as they are in the dormant stage.
Succulents catalog
If you choose the right succulents based on the photo and name from the catalog, and also provide them with good care, you will be able to organize beautiful florariums on your windowsill. Compositions of miniature plants look impressive in the design of a modern apartment, so you can emphasize the ecological style of the interior.
Choose plants for the florarium with the same requirements for humidity and temperature, then make caring for them easier. Growing succulents at home with your own hands is not difficult, because these plants take root well and can even delight you with unusual flowering.
The word "succulents" comes from the Latin succus - juice. They have fleshy, succulent stems and leaves in which these plants accumulate moisture, adapting to unfavorable desert conditions.
Succulents are very loved by gardeners for their attractive and unusual appearance and unpretentiousness. They are often grown in the garden and indoors.
Basically, in our temperate climate, two types of succulents are grown: leaf and stem.
Leafy have thick, succulent leaves. These are plants such as aloe, agaves, kalanchoe, sedum, crassula, stone roses.
Stem plants have a fleshy stem (cacti, little teas).
In the design of flower beds made from succulents, various types of these plants are most often combined, sometimes adding other decorative foliage plants.
This is one of the favorite plants for alpine slides and rock gardens. Almost all succulents are not demanding on soil fertility and prefer well-lit areas on dry soils and do not like severe waterlogging.
Tall types in combination with low ones are perfect for borders and ridges, for narrow flower beds, for example, near the walls of a house.
Low-growing sedums and stone roses look great among the stones on the alpine hills.
You can create beautiful mini gardens from succulents on stone, driftwood or in flowerpots.
The most suitable container for succulents is a wide container 10-15 cm high. 3 cm of expanded clay is poured onto the bottom as drainage, then soil for cacti is added.
With a little imagination, you can create exotic mini-landscapes reminiscent of desert landscapes.
Succulents look great on driftwood and stumps.
A special type of design for flower beds made from succulents are vertical flower beds and living “pictures” in frames. To create such works of art, wide rectangular boxes and a metal mesh are used, which is attached to a wooden frame and holds back a layer of soil. Plants are planted in grid cells.
Loading...