If plants can be trendy, then succulent plants are the hot plant du jour.

Succulents are plants that have thick and fleshy leaves, stems or root, and they are also called “Fat Plants”. Native to arid regions, these plump and juicy beauties adapted to lower precipitation levels by developing fleshy bits making it easy for them to retain water. You might be thinking about cacti right now and cactus are a type of spiny succulent, but not all succulent plants are cacti. The allure of growing succulents for many, besides their gorgeously plump appearance, is that they can be quite hardy–or at least for those who don’t necessarily sport a green thumb.

As the trend for succulents grows (pun intended), they have been showing up in magazine spreads, at wedding receptions as centerpieces and home and gardening stores across the country. There’s just something about those plump plants that really seems to have captured people’s gardening spirit. They’re the Audrey Hepburn of the plant world: charming, chic, stunning and down-to-earth all in one.

There is something about succulent plants that make them very touchable–with their often smooth outer skin–and they can  also be quite exotic looking. They can vary greatly in color, have spines, be spiky, have stripes and more.

Succulent Plants in Your Home

Etsy is a great place to visit if you like the look of those succulent succulents, but don’t really want to get your hands dirty. Here’s a few ready to order potted succulent plants to add to your home.

Image: RootedInSucculents

A pretty succulent centerpiece for your home.

Image: FlathersCreations

Terrariums are good homes for succulent plants.

Image: BottleGardens

We love this tequila bottle succulent planter.

Succulent DIY

And if you like getting your hands dirty, head off to your nearest garden shop for supplies. Here are a few resources to get you started with planting your own.

• Top 10 Succulent Plants for the Home – a great list of some old favorites and more exotic varieties.

• Vertical Garden – for those with frost-free winters, plant a vertical outdoor garden of succulents.

• Succulent Terrariums – and for those who better not leave their succulents outdoors during winter, terrariums are ideal.

• Container Succulents – succulents are ideal for container planting.

Related on Ecosalon

The Green Appointed House: 15 Ways to Decorate With Plants

17 Clever Repurposed Garden Planters to Add More Plants to Your Space

Modern Greenery: 6 Stylish New Ways to Keep Indoor House Plants

top image: vic xia

The post Sumptuous Succulent Plants: Fatten Up Your Garden and Home with the Plants Du Jour appeared first on EcoSalon.

“A succulent garden can look quite lush, not just drought tolerant,” insists Stephen J. Suzman, a landscape designer from South Africa who planted this remarkably organized rooftop containing $10,000 worth of seedum, aeonium and echeverria.

The resulting masterpiece is wowing visitors to the 2009 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, which runs from April 25-May 25 at a mansion in Pacific Heights (2830 Pacific Avenue).

The contemporary design Suzman conceived with associate Paula Erickson, of Suzman & Cole Design Associates, includes a deck and walkways of wood and stone that allow access to the garden’s nooks and crannies filled with low-maintenance succulent plants, Nomow Fescue grasses and seedum, as well as lightweight pots and outdoor sculptures.

The composition is so masterful that it easily holds its own with the breathtaking bay and city views on all sides.

When asked if these plants can hold up to wind, rain and frost, Suzman is quick to sing their praises, adding the only caveat to the low maintenance look is being sure to hydrate when necessary, but not over-water the rugged genera, or else they will turn yellow and might droop.

Otherwise, you can go to a nursery and buy the succulents, grasses and South Arican restio and make your own garden arrangement, selecting plants of different ages and sizes for an interesting composition.

“We’re not close to replacing the front lawn with these yet, but having seedum instead of lawn would be wonderful,” he tells me, adding you cannot walk on it or play on it, but it will save water and power.

Seedums can withstand a freeze, he points out, as evidenced with the rooftop gardens in Germany. “This garden is the tip of the iceberg of what succulents can do.”

Adding to the green scheme is the lighting by Lindsley Architectural Lighting, which installed recycled fixtures with an output of only one to ten watts.

Images: Luanne Bradley

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