Succulents are indispensable assets to every water-wise garden. Their sculptural year-round form, texture and colour give gardens year-round interest. They also have some of the most fascinating shapes in the plant kingdom, their leaves, stems or roots adapted and modified to store nutrients and water, and to reduce moisture loss.
For smaller gardens
For smaller gardens, choose succulents that are to scale with the space and consider the amount of sun your intended varieties require. Picture: Garden World
Hot spots in a sunny small garden are ideal for a low-maintenance succulent garden that will create interest throughout the seasons.
Select succulents that are to scale in this smaller space and make sure they will survive with the amount of sun the microclimate receives. As with any design, a variety of heights, shapes and textures has the greatest impact. Grow in patterns or “waves”, in groups or as focal points to emphasise their fascinating forms.
A flat area can be made more interesting, while at the same time ensuring excellent drainage needed by succulents, by creating low mounds. These, in turn, create “valleys” for additional interest, often as a dry stream bed with pebbles and the occasional rock to introduce a smooth texture among plantings. Top-dress any bare soil with small black or red rocks or gravel.
Good looking year-round, are the many cultivars of the Canary Island pinwheel (Aeonium haworthii) which has rosettes of blue-green leaves with red edgings. Look out for “Sunburst”, a variegated green and cream or “Zwartkop” in purple-black. The zebra plant (Haworthiopsis attenuata formerly Haworthia attenuata), has pointed leaves banded with white stripes.
Green original. The original Canary Island pinwheel (Aeonium haworthii) has sported a
generation of cultivars, many of which have rosettes of leaves with red edging. Picture: Kay Montgomery
Desert roses (Echeveria species and cultivars) have rosettes of grey, blue-grey, green, pink or mauve. The ghost-plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) has rosettes of fleshy grey leaves with pink overtones, while the graptoverias are hybrids between the desert roses and the ghost-plant.
Introduce interesting forms and textures with the blue pencil-like foliage of chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae), yellow-green to the coppertone stonecrop (Sedum nussbaumerianum) and jelly bean plant (S. pachyphyllum), with stumpy green leaves often tipped with red. The spekboom (Portulacaria afra “Nana”) is a spreading groundcover.
Popular. The colourful jelly bean succulent (Sedum rubrotinctum). Picture: Lukas Otto
Species aloes that add flower colour in the cooler months include the spider aloe (Aloe humilis), coral aloe (A. striata) and grey aloe (A. chabaudii).
For a border of succulents, try firesticks (Euphorbia tirucalli), the orange-red tubular flowers and large grey-green leaves of pig’s ear (Cotyledon orbiculata), the yellow-orange flowers and thin succulent green leaves of the burn jelly plant (Bulbine frutescens), the burgundy-black leaves of the pinwheel (Aeonium “Zwartkop”) or the large green with tipped red leaves of the bird’s brandy (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora).
Generally, succulents need sun but there are succulents that thrive in partial shade and would scorch in full sun. The fairy crassula (Crassula multicava) thrives in shady, sheltered, frost-free gardens. It’s a fabulous indigenous water-wise groundcover with dainty white-pink starry flowers that create a pretty display en masse. Propagate by rooted leaf or stem cuttings or from young plants that form around the mother plant.
For containers
Succulents with their fascinating shapes and bright colours are ideal for growing in pots on an open, sunny balcony or patio. Make sure the pots have drainage holes and a free-draining soil mixture. They need a minimum of attention and watering after the initial preparation.
Be creative. Succulents thrive in old pottery, wheelbarrows, birdcages, driftwood, wooden pallets and concrete troughs as long as there are good drainage holes. Succulents also lend themselves to tiered planting on patios. Use them in vertical gardening by attaching plant pockets or rain gutters to walls and fences.
Weeping succulents work well in hanging baskets and in pots where they can spill over the edge. String of beads (Curio rowleyanus) has trailing stems with pea-like foliage and thrives in partial sunlight. The classic donkey tail (Sedum morganianum) has light green foliage, its leaves in the shape of tear drops and is native to Mexico.
The pendulous stems of donkey tail (Sedum morganianum) look attractive when allowed to spill over container edges. Picture: Lukas Otto
String of needles (Ceropegia linearis) has long, pendulous stems and silvery blue-green heart-shaped leaves. The indigenous little pickles (Othonna capensis) can be grown as a trailing succulent in baskets and pots or as a groundcover and is useful for stabilising slopes.
Its succulent grey-green leaves and yellow daisy-like flowers are ideal for attracting butterflies.
An identification guide to Euphorbias
Did you know that there are around 2 000 species of euphorbia and the genus is one of the largest and most diverse groups of flowering plants on earth?
Field Guide to the Succulent Euphorbias of Southern Africa, a pioneer book, is co-authored by Alma Möller and Rolf Becker and published by Briza Publications.
An introductory chapter provides insight into the genus and how to cultivate euphorbia species in your garden. The book is divided into 20 groups, with detailed descriptions of 224 species, including distinguishing features, habitat and distribution maps.
Group 19 contains new species and Group 20 species of uncertain status. There are over 870 photographs and illustrations in the guide. Taxonomic classifications are included and there is a glossary and index to common and scientific names.