How to choose the best succulent for your space and care tips | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

We’re at a busy nursery in inner-city Melbourne. If there’s one type of plant that’s more popular than ever, it’s succulents. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe

Prized for their weird and wonderful colours and shapes, these plants are as coveted by collectors as they are landscape designers. Jane’s going to show us some sterling examples, and how they might fit into some unpromising spaces at your place. She’ll also show how to propagate and grow these plants so they’re at their very best.

Dylan Hewlett is nursery manager here and succulents are his passion. He has hundreds of succulents at home and is here to show Jane through some of the treasures on offer.
When you think of these plants, you may think of leathery, spiny little survivors baking on a desert plain. And while there’s many that fit into this category, there are hundreds of species that will grow quite happily in a part shaded spot, or even indoors!

Haworthias:
Haworthias are small and deservedly popular succulents from southern Africa. They’re small, cute and easy to grow. Most Haworthia produce smallish rosettes of textured succulent leaves, typically marked with patterned glass-like windows in a rainbow of colours. They look more like a glittering box of costume jewellery than a collection of plants. A favourite is Haworthia truncata, with upright leaves that look like a piece of coral. The clear panes on the leaves are thought to help the plant refract and concentrate light.

The biggest mistake people make with their Haworthias is that they put them outside in full sun -they hate it. The ideal spot for your Haworthia is indoors, where they’ll be protected from cold weather and too much rain over winter. They prefer partial shade and need to avoid direct sunlight. A bright, south-facing window would be perfect, or if it’s on a sunny window make sure there’s a sheer curtain to offer some protection. Water sparingly and only when completely dry, as the lack of wind indoors means they’ll take longer to dry out

Rhipsalis:
Rhipsalis, also known as mistletoe cactus, is a family of dangling epiphytic cacti native to Central and Southern America. There are over 35 different species of this plant, so Rhipsalis can come in all different shapes and sizes!

Naturally found in the understory of trees, Rhipsalis prefers bright, indirect light indoors. The best place to put it is at least a step back from a window, but Rhipsalis is an extremely hardy plant. It can subsist on minimal light for extended periods. However, if you go the very low-light route, give your Rhipsalis a break by moving it to a slightly brighter spot once in a while.

Dioscorea :
Dioscorea elephantipes is a plant that looks like nothing else. It’s a slow-growing, long-lived succulent climbing vine with heart-shaped leaves growing from an above-ground tuber (called a “caudex”). The caudex is covered in crackled, tessellated corky bark. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also slightly deciduous and will shed its leaves at some point during the year, usually in summer.

This plant has evolved to grow under the shade of a shrub layer, meaning the characteristic caudex needs to be shaded from direct sun, or it will burn. It will grow happily indoors, and the best position is a bright, north-facing window. The higher, overhead position of the sun in summer will miss the caudex, avoiding the danger of burning. They are shallow-rooted so a wide, shallow tray (like a bonsai pot) is a good idea, to accommodate their outward growth while preventing water pooling in a deeper pot.

Featured Plants:
HORSE’S TEETH - Haworthia truncata
CROWDED HAWORTHIA - Haworthiopsis coarctata
Haworthia cooperi ‘OB1’
MISTLETOE CACTUS - Rhipsalis pacheco-leonis
ELEPHANT’S FOOT VINE - Dioscorea elephantipes
MEXICAN SNOW BALL - Echeveria elegans cv.
TREE HOUSELEEK - Aeonium cv.
Pachypodium baronii
ZEBRA PLANT - Haworthiopsis attenuate
Aloe ‘Quicksilver’
Gasteria ‘Little Warty’
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