Garden design ideas using low-water, firewise succulent plants by book author Debra Lee Baldwin


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Debra's News Books by Debra Succulent Photo CDs Presentations Photo Essays (blog) Succulent Info Articles Garden Design Firewise Landscaping Awards and Clips Debra's Garden Debra's Watercolors Links	Now available! Succulent Container Gardens , the sequel to Designing with Succulents My other website www.succulentchic.net celebrates container gardening. My goal as a photojournalist, author and speaker is to share the beauty and practicality of these remarkable plants with gardening enthusiasts worldwide, regardless of their climate or space constraints. Succulents are plants that store moisture in fleshy leaves and stems. This allows them to survive periods of drought (such as when their owner forgets to water them). Common types include agaves, aloes, aeoniums, crassulas, euphorbias, echeverias, kalanchoes, sedums, and sempervivums. The popularity of succulents is soaring. Some reasons: -- Water shortages and rationing are impacting many regions. Succulents are low-water plants---a lush alternative to thirsty lawns and flowerbeds. -- Because they are full of water, succulents are fire-resistant and fire-retardant. They're an excellent landscape choice where wildfires are a concern. -- Succulents are easy to cultivate and require minimal maintenance. Unless you want species that are rare and expensive, you likely can get cuttings from friends and neighbors. -- Succulents range in size from tiny-leaved ground covers to tall trees. Many have dramatic geometric shapes that add interest to gardens large and small. They also make great potted plants. -- Their leaves and stems come in all colors, so succulents are intriguing year-round, not only when in bloom. And most produce vivid-hued flowers as well. 'Sticks on Fire', tuxedo agaves and blue senecio. Are you concerned that your climate is inhospitable to succulents? Most sedums and sempervivums and some agaves and cacti will survive temperatures below freezing, but the majority of succulents are frost-tender. They also dislike prolonged wet conditions. But anyone, anywhere, can grow succulents in containers, which can be overwintered indoors. View my six-minute video how to make a succulent container garden. Terracotta and blue-glazed pots lend design continuity to a container garden on a patio. Photo from Succulent Container Gardens. Design by Jim Bishop, Bishop Garden Design. For more information and photos of succulent plants, and their use in gardens and containers, visit this website's Garden Design, Succulent Information, Articles, and Photos pages. I now offer three CDs, each with 350 photos: the Designing with Succulents Plant Palette (newly expanded and updated), Succulents in Containers and Succulent Landscapes. Photos on each CD are different from those in either book or the other two CDs. If your home is in a wildfire-prone area, be sure to visit the Firewise Landscaping page. To read about my own garden adventures, see my Photo Essays (Blog). Go to Presentations to find out where I'll be speaking and what I might offer your group.
	Portrait of Debra (top left) is by Terri Rippee.

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