succulents, the gift that keeps on giving

At my old lab I used to work at, we had a bunch of plants and vegetables we grew outside and tended to as a distraction or to fill in gaps while waiting for our experiments, and this was where I was introduced to succulents. I had heard of them before but I had never seen how hearty these little guys are. One of my coworkers brought in a little cutting off of one of his plants and after almost no time at all, the entire wine barrel was 1 huge plant, it practically took over! So I broke off a couple of pieces and took them home, liking the idea that I could stick it in the dirt, hardly water it at all, and it would grow.

It was starting to get a little shabby looking, and I've been seeing some very beautiful displays and great ideas on how to use succulents as arrangements instead of spending money on flowers every week. I love having flowers in the house, but this is a nice way to add some greenery and you don't have to keep going back for more.

I came upon this cute website for a place in Oakland called fernseed, and they have a bunch of different succulent arrangements:


Aren't these cute? Individual succulent "blooms" locally grown in Oakland, $12 each


Of course I have to love the arrangements in the Erlenmeyer flask.


I liked the idea of this arrangement a lot, and I had a bowl that looked just like this I got at Ikea for $12, so I wanted to do my own. I went to Home Depot and bought a couple of little succulents and this is what I came up with:




Isn't it cute?! I love the little button looking one, and the glassy looking green one in the last photo. Each cost about $1.50. And for $20 I have an arrangement that will last, saves money and is less wasteful!

It also makes a great gift for someone who isn't so green thumb inclined, which frankly is me.