So-Easy Succulent Container Gardens
Start a succulent container garden [1]
Potted succulents are perfect summer plants for a Midwest porch, patio, or deck thanks to their small size, water-saving habits and sun-loving nature. These tips will help you start a successful succulent container garden:
-- Select a container with drainage holes. Spread gravel in the bottom of the container to speed drainage, and top with a potting soil mix designed for succulents or cacti.
-- Plant succulents tightly in the container (left). They are slow-growing, so pack them into the pot from the start.
-- Let the pots dry out slightly between watering. Succulents store water in their fleshy leaves and flourish in dry conditions.
-- Bring containers indoors to a bright windowsill in winter. Some succulents, such as hens-and-chicks and Sedum spp., are hardy to Zone 3 or 4 and can be transplanted into your garden. Click on "Best Succulent Plants for the Midwest" to see which varieties can take winter's chill.
Ideas for great-looking container succulents are on the next 14 slides.
Singular beauty [4]
Fill an urn with the thick pointed leaves of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp.). Some varieties, like the one used here, bear white hairs that form what looks like a spiderweb over the plants. The naturally variegated colors and tightly packed texture add plenty of visual interest to this single-specimen planting.
Mixed greens [7]
An eclectic group of succulents in a wooden tray creates a nostalgic combination. Our plant choices:
--Top row, left to right: Aloe striata, Cotyledon 'octopus', burro's tail (Sedum morganianum), Mexican hens (Echeveria shaviana)
-- Middle row, left to right: watch chain (Crassula lycopodioides), Aloe zanzibarica, ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense), crinkle-leaf plant (Adromischus cristatus var. zeyheri)
-- Bottom row, left to right: Sedum hybrid, Kalanchoe beharensis, Crassula conjuncta, string of beads (Senecio rowleyanus).
Simply sedums [10]
Large-leaf Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and yellow-flowering Sedum kamtschaticum pair up to create a texture-rich combination. When 'Autumn Joy' produces its pink blooms, the colorful combo is doubly striking.
Click here [11] to learn more about sedums in the Plant Encyclopedia of our sister publication, Better Homes and Gardens.
Fall for color [14]
Elevate Echeveria spp. on a fence post or column to better enjoy the flowers that cluster on the top of stalks sprouting from between the thick, rounded blue-green leaves. Echeveria foliage comes in a variety of shapes and colors.
Long and short [17]
Pair a tall, narrow pot overflowing with trailing variegated Dischidia spp. and a squat square container of colorful Echeveria spp.
Step it up [20]
Blue-green echeveria (Echeveria spp.) combines with white-striped zebra haworthia (Haworthia fasciata) and fuzzy panda plant (Kalanchoe tomentosa) with brown-tipped leaves. A separate container with burro's tail (Sedum morganianum) adds color and textural contrast as it drapes over the edge of the next step.
Case goods [23]
Give a flea-market find--an old beverage bottle case--new life as the home for tall, silvery ghost plants (Graptopetalum paraguayense) and burro's tail (Sedum morganianum).
Graceful accent [26]
Single out one of the more than 300 species of agaves, a relative of the lily family. An eye-catching plant, Agave celsii sports thick, wide, swordlike leaves with sharp tips. Colors range from bright green to blue-gray.
Golden glow [29]
Mass a single species of succulent for maximum impact. At left, a golden-hued Sedum nussbaumerianum provides a colorful counterpoint to a gray planter.
Triple play [32]
Show off three foliage champs in clay pots: Dyckia marnierlapostolle in the pot at left in the photo, and the ubiquitous Echeveria spp. in the pots at center and right. Note that leaf tips of the slow-growing, spiny-edged Dyckia can shrivel in excessive heat.
Concrete jungle [35]
Nestle a couple of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp.) among the lush spires of watch chain stonecrop (Sedum sexangulare) in a concrete bowl. In summer, the stonecrop bears tiny yellow star-shape flowers on its lanky stems.
Dish harmony [38]
Decorate a garden tabletop with a trio of small potted plants--left to right, Euphorbia spp., jade plant (Crassula spp.) and Hayworthia spp.--arranged inside a shallow dish
Vintage appeal [41]
The mottled colors of old metal compotes complement this collection of succulents. On the left, ruffle-leaved Mexican hens (Echeveria shaviana) pair with ghost plants (Graptopetalum paraguayense). In the lower tier, a collection of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp.) circles the fleshy paddles of Cotyledon spp.
Sharp contrast [44]
Focus on exotic plant forms by pairing mother of thousands (Kalanchoe daigremontiana, center plant in photo, with bristly rat tail cacti (Disocactus flagelliformis). The violet-flowering Kalanchoe also bears the name devil's backbone, for its serrated edges.
More on container gardens [47]
Click the links below for more container garden inspirations.