Succulents continue to be in serious vogue at the moment making appearances in many garden magazines, garden designs, potted designs and even wedding designs. It’s clear to see why these amazing architectural plants are so fashionable as they are incredibly easy to grow and maintain, making them ideal for any keen gardener to grow and also a lovely way to decorate a small windowsill or fill a conservatory.
We have a large variety to choose from and have added a couple of new ones to our range this year… Corpuscula Lehmanii is a popular, compact succulent with chunky block like stems. It is grey in colour and producers showy yellow-translucent flowers. Originally from the Eastern Cape in South Africa, it thrives in rocky, dry terrain but will adapt too many soil types in very warm conditions.
Another one to look out for is our visually striking Aeonium
Leuconeura. With its strong rosettes and unique markings, it makes a wonderful compact plant and very easy to grow. Markings become more enhanced when left out in the sun.
If an eye catching flower is more your style, why not give our newly listed variety, Delosperma Cooperi a try? Its common name, “Pink Carpet” is a great description of the intense Magenta flowers that burst in abundance and its trailing, fleshy leaves that spread out and cover large areas.
When caring for your succulents, always keep in mind that most varieties thrive in hot environments, but contrary to myth they DO like to be watered during their growing season, as a simple rule, sit them in a deep saucer of water overnight, any excess water left over in morning throw away. Do this once a week/fortnight (depending how hot it is & size of pot they are in) during the growing season. This will encourage them to grow & flower! Though remember they will only flower once the plant has reached flowering maturity and if they are given a dormant period (see below).
All succulents need a dormant period. We tend to use the rule when the clocks change in Autumn STOP watering & don’t water again until clocks change in the Spring. This dormancy encourages them to flower and to tolerate our cold winters, but keep them frost free – better to be safe than sorry!
Another top tip is ensure they have good free drained soil. We normally plant ours 50/50. 50% multi purpose potting compost, mixed with 50% course grit – NOT sand!! mix the two together to give a lovely free draining cactus/succulent compost.
Also don’t forget to feed! Just as we need to eat healthy, take vitamins etc to keep us tip top plants need feeding too! Succulents can be fed Tomarite or Miracle Gro, do this in the growing season to keep the vigour of the plant. The other tip with Succulents is don’t over pot them. They like to be root bound to a certain degree, normal trick to know when to re-pot, if they are top heavy and fall over or if they overhang the edge of the pot they are in – then repot them. Also trimming/shaping of the plant is actively encouraged, just as a conifer hedge needs annual cutting to maintain shape & size, your succulents will benefit also. A good, sharp pair of scissors, knife or secateurs are ideal to maintain the size & shape of your plant and you can be quite ruthless and they will generally bounce back.
For further information on caring for your succulents please don’t hesitate to call our office on 01273 844 229 or send us your enquiry here and we will get back to you. Some of our succulent varieties can be viewed on our website here but if you are looking for something in particular please get in touch as we may have it here on the nursery just not listed yet.
Thanks for reading and happy growing. Please feel free to leave feedback or comments.