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The Virtually Indisputable Superiority of Succulents

7/30/2013

 
The other day, a friend asked me why I like succulents so much more than other plants.  First, a clarification: I like lots and lots of other plants.  But I don't like growing them nearly as much as I like growing succulents.  Here are my top five reasons, in no particular order:
  1. Otherworldliness.  Plants like echeveria etna, crassula moonglow, and haworthia maughanii look like they've been beamed down from Neptune.  Their unapologetic weirdness charms me.
  2. Nearly infinite propagat-ability.  The idea that I can reproduce an entire plant from a single leaf still blows my mind.  It's also amazingly cost-effective for those of us who are, say, full-time graduate students writing dissertations, working on the side, and making student loan payments.  Just hypothetically. 
  3. Sheer variety of shapes and colors.  If you're reading this page, I doubt I have to convince you of this one!
  4. Amnesty for my neglect.  I'm a busy gal, and sometimes I can't get to my plants for two days...  or three...  or four.  When I had a vegetable garden, this was problematic (note that I'm using the past tense).  With the exceptions of seedlings and very young plants, succulents actually seem to prefer it when I neglect them for a little while.  
  5. Collective fanaticism surrounds them.  Maybe this is true of lots of things, but I adore the photos, writings, and community that surrounds succulents.  Succ-ers are a lot of fun, and getting to know other succulent gardeners and attending events like the Succulent Celebration has been awesome.  There is SO much to learn, and I never seem to tire of it.
How about you, fellow, succ-ers?  What do you like best about succulents?


Cindy Davison of The Succulent Perch
7/30/2013 09:50:03 am

I love the rosette shapes in virtually any color and then again, I love those with long blades with teeth, but then again I love the fuzzy leafed varieties and those that look like they're covered with baby powder, then again I love the ones that shoot out blooms that can engulf a hummingbird and then again I love....

Candy Suter link
7/30/2013 12:28:34 pm

I like that you can ignore them and because of stress they actually look BETTER! When has anything positive ever been said about stress before! Hahahaha!

M.C. Silva
7/30/2013 02:04:46 pm

love your five reasons!...coming to Mexico has been a revelation for me and succs.!

Linda Cooney
7/31/2013 11:54:16 am

I love that you can tuck them in a tiny area between cement and brick and soon you have a garden!

Gardening Succs link
8/1/2013 12:42:28 am

Here's another big one for me: my mom loves them, too! So we can hang out in nurseries together for hours and hours, which is soooo fun!

Jamie Higgins link
8/22/2013 11:03:40 am

We love them because of their incredible resourcefulness and they're fire-resistant.


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