Sign up for email newsletters

Sign up for email newsletters

Echeveria blossoms. (Contributed -- Tom Karwin)

Echeveria 'Chantilly'. (Contributed -- Tom Karwin)

Echeveria 'Blue Bird'. (Contributed -- Tom Karwin)

Echeveria 'Autumn Flame'. (Contributed -- Tom Karwin)

Gardeners are discovering succulent plants as excellent selections for the garden. The appeal of these plants encompasses several characteristics, the first being drought-tolerance. These plants are native to regions that have periods of limited rain fall, so they evolved to absorb moisture when it’s available and, during dry periods, store it in their leaves, stems or roots.

Because California is among the world’s summer-dry regions, and is also experiencing a historic drought, succulent plants are appropriate choices for California gardens.

Because of their ability to store moisture, they depend less on regularly drawing moisture from the soil. This drought tolerance makes succulent plants exceptionally easy to plant, maintain, and, when desired, relocate in the garden. By comparison, non-succulent plants quickly wilt when their roots are denied continual access to moisture.

There’s more to the appeal of these plants including their leaves varied colors, forms, and sizes, plus their attractive seasonal blossoms.

Succulent plants are available in many sizes, ranging from ground covers to tall trees, making them candidates for a wide range of landscape spaces and designs.

For today’s column we focus on smaller succulent plants that could be included in a small garden, a small pocket bed, or a container.

The Echeveria genus includes many widely popular smaller succulent plants. This genus, a member of the Stonecrop plant family (Crassulaceae), is native to semi-desert areas of Mexico Central America, and northern parts of South America. The genus includes some 150 species, and a large and growing group of cultivars, exceeding 1,000 selected variations and hybrids.

It is noteworthy that Echeverias, while drought-tolerant, still need some irrigation, particularly as they are actively growing in the spring. Let the soil dry out between waterings and avoid over-watering.

Echeverias like moderate day time and cool nighttime temperatures, which are typical of the Monterey Bay area. They do not do well, however, when temperatures rise over 100 degrees or drop below freezing and will need protection during such times.

Echeverias include deciduous and evergreen varieties, and all are polycarpic, meaning they have long lives. By comparison, monocarpic plants, e.g., Agaves, die after flowering and producing offsets for propagation.

Echeverias typically form compact rosettes of fleshy leaves and lack the fierce spines (modified leaves) associated with some other succulents, including Agaves, cacti, and others. Spine-free succulents are referred to as “soft” succulents, rendering them friendly to gardeners.

My garden includes several small, soft succulent plants, including genera from Mexico and Central America, and South Africa. Here are examples of Echeverias, selected for a variety of leaf colors.

Echeveria ‘Autumn Flame’. The hybridizer of this striking succulent, Altman Plants, describes its “rich mahogany color and uniquely shiny, undulate foliage” with “lighter red coloring of the leaf margins.” This large grower of succulent plants, based in Vista, California, also has a greenhouse in Salinas, California. It grows six inches tall and eight inches wide. Its foliage is the main attraction, and the plant also blooms in spring and summer.

Echeveria ‘Blue Bird’ has powdery, light-blue leaves with pointed red tips. Its foliage turns a burgundy hue in fall and winter, and its pinkish-orange flowers appear on a tall stalk in spring and summer. It grows six inches tall and five inches wide.

Echeveria blossoms appear in the spring and summer. While they are charming and long-lasting, gardeners typically design with emphasis on the plants’ foliage. Depending on garden conditions, Echeverias can be subject to mealy bugs in leaf axils and aphids on flower buds. When such problems arise, many gardeners will remove the lower stalks and let the foliage resume its pleasing role in the landscape.

Echeveria ‘Chantilly’ is a beautiful cultivar developed by California hybridizer Dick Wright. This plant, like other of these examples, has a loose rosette measuring about six inches across, with upturned, undulating pale blue leaves, flecked with red.

For more information on these plants, succulent plant specialist Debra Lee Baldwin provides a helpful overview of cultivation and propagation, plus a photo gallery of selected varieties Visit debraleebaldwin.com and search for “Echeveria.”

The University of California, Santa Cruz’s Arboretum & Botanic Garden has developed an impressive Echeveria collection as a stunning introduction to the diversity of these plants. The collection is located on a slope behind the Succulent Garden, which is near the entrance, across the road from Norrie’s Gift & Garden Shop.

To explore further the genus Echeveria, visit Wikipedia’s Echeveria page for a basic description of the plant, plus lists of the species, cultivars, and hybrids.

Here are upcoming garden-related webinars:

The University of California’s Agriculture & Natural Resources (UC-ANR) will host a webinar on Making Sauerkraut, at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, presented by the Master Food Preservers of Orange County. To register for this free event, browse to ucanr.edu/News/, click on “Events” and scroll down to March 8.

UC-ANR also will present a webinar, “How to Grow a Salsa Garden,” at 10 a.m. March 12, 2022. The presenter will be environmental horticulturist Carolyn Kinnon. Register for this free event by browsing to ucanr.edu/News/, click on “Events” and scroll down to March 12.

Reminder: The Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery will present the webinar “Dry Garden Botany 101,” at 10 a.m. on Saturday 2022. “With a focus on dry garden plants, this class will give you the basics for understanding how plants are scientifically classified into different families and an overview of the plant parts.” This is a fee-based event. To register, visit ruthbancroftgarden.org and scroll through “Featured Events” (where later events are also listed).

The American Horticultural Society will present a webinar in its series, “Conversations with Great American Gardeners,” at 4 p.m. April 21st. This event features Shane Smith, Director Emeritus and founder of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, in western Colorado. This public garden includes one of the nation’s oldest and largest solar-heated and powered greenhouses. To register for this fee-based event, visit ahsgardening.org/ and scroll to the Shane Smith webinar.

Consider adding Echeverias to your garden. A cluster of as few as three plants can provide interesting comparisons and inspire a more extensive collection of this diverse genus. As your collection grows, you could for example explore groupings or combinations of foliage colors. We will not advertise sources of these intriguing plants, but a visit to your local garden center or quick search of the internet for “Echeverias” will lead to opportunities to acquire these inexpensive plants.

Tom Karwin is past president of Friends of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society, and Monterey Bay Iris Society, and a Lifetime UC Master Gardener (Certified 1999–2009). He is now a board member and garden coach for the Santa Cruz Hostel Society. To view daily photos from his garden, https://www.facebook.com/ongardeningcom-566511763375123/. For garden coaching info and an archive of previous On Gardening columns, visit http://ongardening.com. Contact him with comments or questions at tom@karwin.com.

Sign up for email newsletters