Ten Predictions for the Succulent Decor Marketplace Amazing tips

April 13, 2018

In May of 2016, I predicted that textiles and decorative items themed with succulents would soon be commonplace. Back then there were a few T-shirts, socks, pillows and posters, but not much from major retailers except fake succulents. (Gotta love the irony: Succulents already are the closest thing to plastic in the plant world.)  Now they’re everywhere: Pier One, TJ Maxx, Cost Plus World Market, Wayfair, Home Goods, JOANN and more.

Above: I’m holding a succulent shower curtain ($30) at Cost Plus World Market. In the foreground is a $200 faux opuntia (prickly pear).  

 

“Cactus Serving Bowl” from Pier One, $30

You Heard It Here First ~ My 10 New Predictions for Succulent and Cactus Decor

In fabrics, dishes and other decorative items, rosette succulents such as echeverias have claimed a place forever in the palette of “florals” available to designers.

Early on, many retailers, hotels and restaurants went with mediocre, mass-produced prints of succulents. Those will be replaced with quality images that do the plants justice, along the lines of paintings by Dyana Hesson or Aaron Apsley (do follow them on Instagram).

Cactus as a design element is trending, popping up on pajamas, place mats, wallpaper and more. As awareness of the plants grows, cliche images of “cactus” as saguaros and prickly-pear will give way to numerous other varieties.

Pink flowers on a saguaro? In nature they’re creamy white. Let’s hope depictions of cacti and succulents become more accurate.

Stylized cacti, unlike their living counterparts, are always in bloom. But as designers and consumers recognize that the true beauty of cacti is in their spines and symmetry, the perceived need for flashy flowers will diminish.

Spherical and columnar euphorbias, easily confused with cacti, are riding the popularity wave along with them—for example, those euphorbias in the cactus curtain I’m holding above. (And what those avocado-like leaves are, I have no idea.)

“Cactus Pete” flannel fabric at JOANN, $3.49/yard. 

Expect to hear the word “cute” in the same breath as “cactus” as graphic designers give the plants personality. Rotund, “chubby” varieties will be stylized for greeting cards, gift bags, night lights, plush toys, bed linens and more.

Check-out lines, already long at seasonal Cactus & Succulent Society of America shows, will get even longer. Vendors will offer impulse-buy gifts and collectibles for newcomers—items of little interest to long-time members who are mainly plant collectors.

Shops specializing in all things cacti-and-succulent will spring up online, in flea markets and mall kiosks. If these sell live plants, they’ll be secondary to themed merchandise.

Potters, ceramicists, mosaic artists and metal sculptors will produce works designed to contain and showcase specific succulents, such as those that form Fibonacci spirals.

Kids will clamor for cactus collections, leading to garden tools for small hands, rubber-tipped tongs and tweezers, and bright-colored pot sleeves.

Retro, cactus-themed trinkets from Mexico and the desert Southwest will be highly sought-after, leading to an outpouring of new items inspired by old.

Above: “Fiesta Chihuahua Doormat” from Pier One, $17. 

Related Info…

See my earlier predictions in articles on my site:
“Succulent Art, Decor and Gift Items”
“Is Cactus the New Black?” and
“Seven Ways to Make Money with Succulents.”

Enjoy my post: “Did I Find the Perfect Succulent Pillow?”
Follow my quest and view photos of my redone entryway along with dog-model Lucky, who happens to resemble the pup above. (Yes, he’s really thatcute.)

Don’t miss Part Two in my next newsletter: 
“Ten New Predictions for the Succulent Plant and Garden Market.”

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The Hard Part of My Succulent Pillow Hunt Amazing tips

Recently I embarked on an intensive, two-day hunt for the perfect succulent pillow. I wanted it for the love seat in my home’s 5×5 entry, where I keep 40 small, low-light succulents in a dozen containers. These are shades of green, bronze, brown, terra-cotta, and rose.

Small euphorbias, gasterias and haworthias thrive in the entry, out of direct sun.

Little did I realize how many succulent pillows are out there. Stores such as Pier One, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Joanne’s and Cost Plus World Market seem to have taken my 2016 prediction to heart: That items themed with succulents and cacti would become commonplace.

From Pier One’s website.

I bought seven pillows and two area rugs, and charged about $500 on my credit card. No biggie, I was going to return all but one pillow and one rug, right? Well, yes, but an embroidered and beaded cactus pillow from Pier One was a keeper regardless. Only $40!  (I have a thing for throw pillows.)

I figured just about any multicolored succulent pillow would work. The walls are tan, the trim cream, the floor concrete gray, the door and wrought iron brown, and the seat cushion dark blue-green. Hoping that a rug would add punch and help pull everything together, I bought a 3×5 one striped in brown, green, blue and beige. But—I should have known this, being a Pier One fan—the colors were so crisp, they made everything else look shabby. Also, when I saw it in situ, I realized it really needed some orange-red.

The first go-round: The pillow is a bit too small for the love seat. The rug, though the right size and a nice texture, lacks colors necessary to unify the design.

So back the rug went. Next stop: Cost Plus World Market, where colorful cacti greeted me from Melamine plates, shower curtains, and even nifty metal buckets. Watch the 50-second video I made while there. 

I model a soft fabric shower curtain at World Market.

I found a pillow with a watercolor of a cactus garden that seemed the right shape and size: rectangular (“lumbar”) and bigger than Pier One’s for less money. Score! Or so I thought.

Cactus pillow and rug at World Market.

Back home. Aargh. No pillow with a white background looked right. There’s no white in the entry, and they all said “bedroom.” Yet while at World Market I’d also bought an orangey-red rag rug trimmed in blue-green. It worked! Who knew, all along it wasn’t the pillow that mattered most, it was the rug.

My Dorothy-in-Oz moment: I had the perfect pillow all along.

Next I went shopping in my own home, grabbing a pillow with all the right colors from the living room sofa and two stretched canvas prints of agaves from the hallway. (They’re from my online Zazzle store.) As it happened, none of the succulent pillows were ideal for the entry. However, I did keep two. One is now on my bed, the other on an armchair. The entry pillow has a bird on it, but hey, I’m into birds.

Cost: Two pillows that I kept despite not needing either one: $60. Rag rug from World Market: $40. Total: $100. Plus a day and a half of my time, but I had fun so I can’t complain.

Do you, like me, need to hunt, gather and try things on before everything clicks? Then you probably agree that the hard part—and hopefully you’re better at this than I am—is taking things back.

Now (drum roll) my pup Lucky would like to show you “his” new entry.

Lucky demonstrates “downward dog” on his new yoga mat.

He meditates while digesting kibble.

The love seat is ideal for cat-watching.

Lucky echoes the pose of a metal watchdog. At left are a pair of Talavera “shoes” and a frog pot atop a larger one. In the square pot are ‘Pink Blush’ aloes.

Items opposite the love seat include Gasteraloe ‘Green Ice’ in bloom.

Gasteria sp.

Related Info

 

 

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Bill’s Best: A Top Designer’s Favorite Aloes Amazing tips

Looking for great succulents for your garden?

Plant aloes in well-draining soil and “they’ll soon become your favorite succulents,” says Bill Schnetz, one of Southern CA’s most sought-after landscape designers. Bill uses aloes of all sizes in mild-climate residential gardens. For a natural look, he suggests mixing one or two kinds with tough, drought-tolerant ornamental grasses and flowering perennials. For a contemporary look, he recommends planting similar aloes “in rows and geometric blocks.”

In this Rancho Santa Fe courtyard garden, Bill planted numerous coral aloes (Aloe striata). Their long-blooming flowers and translucent leaf margins repeat the orange of roof tiles, Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’ at left, and bird-of-paradise along the wall (when in bloom).

Blue, the color complement of orange, creates contrast via Senecio mandraliscae and Senecio serpens (at left) and tufts of blue fescue (below). Other ornamental grasses, paddle cactus and elephant’s food (Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’) lend texture and interest. Dymondia, a walkable ground cover, serves as a low-water lawn substitute. Stone pavers and Saltillo tiles repeat the rust hues of boulders that line a dry creek bed. At upper left is Aloe bainseii, a tree aloe. (Also see this garden in Designing with Succulents, 2nd ed., page 58.)

Bill’s 14 Favorite Aloes

I asked Bill if he’d share which aloes he uses most often in clients’ gardens, and why. This list was compiled by Schnetz Landscape, Inc. with Rebecca Simpson.

Small aloes. These tough, toothed aloes handle adverse conditions.  Height: 8 to 18 inches.

Aloe x nobilis, Aloe aristata, and Aloe humilis all grow tight and stay low.

Aloe ‘Rooikappie’ is Bill’s favorite small aloe. It gets a little bigger than the three above and is a good fit for small and large landscapes. It’s a repeat bloomer and transplants easily.

Mid-size aloes are good for borders and large-scale massing.  Height: 18 to 36 inches.

Aloe striata has nice plump leaves and good floral color.

Aloe vera is dramatic planted en masse, and yes, the gel is useful for burns and cuts.

Aloe x spinosissima is a 2- to 3-foot sprawler great on hillsides and rocky soil.

Aloe cameronii is Bill’s favorite 2-foot aloe. Stays red all year if given full sun.

Tree aloes tend to be slow growing and may not look their best in cold winter months. Don’t plant them near foundations or under eaves—they do get big.

Aloe bainesii is a moderate grower, 15 to 30 feet tall. Leaves may turn yellow and get black spots, but with summer warmth and feeding they’ll green up.

Aloe dichotoma is slow-growing to 15 to 20 feet. It has nice gray leaves and is very drought tolerant.

Aloe ferox is slow growing to 6-10 feet with a single trunk that holds dead leaves.

Aloe ‘Hercules’ is a faster-growing hybrid with a thick, strong trunk. Give it plenty of room.

Shade-tolerant aloes useful as firebreak plants are fast-growing and spreading.

Aloe ciliaris is a sprawling succulent that will climb palm tree trunks. Take care that it doesn’t get buried in leaves and melt away. Sometimes called ‘Fire Wall’ aloe, when grown on a slope, the plants form a 3- to 4-foot mat of fire-resistant growth.

Aloe arborescens is probably the most commonly grown aloe in the world. If you have room for it, you can’t go wrong. It solves a multitude of landscape problems, and thrives everywhere—coast, low desert, foothills—from Mexico to San Francisco. Originally from South Africa, it’s also found all around the Mediterranean. This multiheaded aloe makes a good background plant and tolerates filtered shade beneath tall trees. For a dense barrier, plant 6 to 8 feet apart in a line or triangles. Height: 4 to 8 feet and spreading.

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More Info

In my books: Designing with Succulents, 2nd ed., pp. 182-190; Succulents Simplified, pp. 185-197.

On this site:

Aloe Photos and IDs 

My photos of aloes on this page are identified according to genus and species, and sometimes common names… [Continue reading]

What’s Your Ultimate Aloe?

My ultimate aloes are any large, sculptural species with brilliant, Popsicle-like flowers that make striking garden plants even… [Continue reading]

On my YouTube channel:

View my YouTube video: Spectacular Aloes in Flower

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Email Thank You – Weekly Emails Great Tips

I'm excited you want to learn more about growing succulents! Be sure to check your inbox because I sent you a little welcome note with more details about the Q&A emails. Also, you'll want to make sure you get that intro email because... every once in a while it seems [...]

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Super Succulent Celebration Highlights Amazing tips

Welcome to the Super Succulent Celebration!

The succulents were superb and vendors sold stunning pots and garden decor, but what made the March 23-24 event at Waterwise Botanicals nursery truly special for me were the people.

Top right: Mom and son model crowns decorated with Sculpey succulents. Center left: The king of succulents, Robin Stockwell. Center: Shirley Kost-Haskell shows her cactus T-shirt to Laura Balaoro, founder of the Succulent Fanatics Facebook group. Center right: A barrel cactus knitted by Susan Morse blooms with crochet flowers. Lower left: Succulent Fanatic Deana Rae McMillion of Carpenteria, CA. Bottom center: Hannah Eubanks of Design for Serenity. Lower right: Potter Susan Aach and me.

 

Upper left: Emily, the Succulent Bride, brought her BFFs. Upper right: Queen Kay decorates her Succulent Coloring Bag. Center: Jason and Sean drove from Arizona (Jason has a tree growing out of his head…my bad). Center right: Succulent celeb Patrick Anderson brought his mom (no, that’s not her). Center: The speaker’s tent and display gardens. Lower left: Sculpey agave. Bottom middle: Succulent princess. Lower right: Talavera pot with succulents, Susan Morse design.

 

Upper right: Pat, my Saturday helper from Orange County. Center: Coronation of future succulenteers. Lower left: Dylan and Kaitlyn of CSG Succulents. Bottom center and right: Oh, the cuteness!

Now on my YouTube Channel: Debra Lee Baldwin Up Close and Personal

I share my past and passions in a fun and candid interview with Tom Jesch, manager and founder of Waterwise Botanicals, during the 2018 Super Succulent Celebration. 

Related info:

Super Succulent Celebration at Waterwise Botanicals (event description) ~ Join me at a super celebration of all things succulent! I’ll be at Waterwise Botanicals nursery both days…[Continue reading]

The Designing with Succulents Resource List ~ These designers and nurseries are in the completely revised and updated second edition of Designing with Succulents...[Continue reading]

San Diego Succulent Sources and Destinations ~ Due to a perfect climate for succulents and a surging demand, San Diego county has a wealth of succulent specialty nurseries…[Continue reading]

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Use Colored Sand for Succulent Bouquets Amazing tips

 

A jay appears interested in the spring succulent bouquet I made for the 2018 Super Succulent Celebration.

I like to display bouquets of succulent rosettes in clear glass containers filled with layers of sand. Practical as well as pretty, the sand lends color and interest, and serves as to anchor the stems so top-heavy rosettes don’t tumble out.

Succulent sand bouquets make quick and original hostess gifts. Moreover, recipients can remove rosettes from their faux stems and plant them, if they like.

The inspiration for my spring 2018 succulent sand bouquet (above) was an unusual blown glass vase I found at a thrift store. But any glass cylinder, bottle or jar will work.

I keep a palette of colored sand in glass jars on an open shelf so I can enjoy looking at them, even when not using them. Colored sand is available at craft stores and online. 

This arrangement, which took about 15 minutes to make, is in a repurposed vinegar bottle.

And this one was a holiday gift.

To make your own colored sand, obtain a bag of playground sand from any home improvement store, plus Rit dye in whatever colors you want (sold in supermarkets and online). The sand looks white but is actually pale gray, but that’s OK, because the resulting muted colors look fine with the plants. To color sand, pour the liquid dye into a pan no longer used for food, add sand to the level of the liquid, and bake until the liquid evaporates—300 degrees for an hour or so. Stir occasionally with a metal spatula or clean garden trowel. Let it cool outside, stirring every so often to expose moist sand and to break lumps. When cool, funnel the dry sand into glass jars and store the excess in ziplock bags labeled with whatever color or mix you used.

When making a bouquet, select sand based on the colors of the rosettes (or vice versa).

I usually fill the container halfway with three colors, then turn it on its side and rotate it to make swirls, then add more sand so stems will be concealed. Try pushing a stiff wire or chopstick into the layers, along the inside of the glass, to create drizzly Vs.

 

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Related Info ~

My book, Succulents Simplified, pp. 162-169, shows how to make a special occasion succulent bouquet.

Articles ~

12 Succulent Bouquets to Inspire You  When wired onto faux stems, succulent rosettes—despite having no roots, soil or water—make long-lasting floral bouquets… [Continue reading] 

DIY Succulent Bouquet  When I need a hostess gift, thank-you present, or an arrangement for a special friend, I create a bouquet of succulents. I start by selecting [Continue reading]

Videos ~

Stunning Succulent Arrangements, my online Craftsy class, includes How to Make a Succulent Bouquet. Use this link to take the entire class (all seven lessons) at 50% of the regular enrollment price—$20 instead of $40.

YouTube: How to Wire (Prep) Succulents for Bouquets (3:48)

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Ten Succulent Bouquets to Inspire You Amazing tips

Echeverias, graptosedums, crassulas and kalanchoes lend themselves beautifully to bouquets because of their colorful leaves and rosette shapes. They’re easy to attach to faux stems, need no water (because they live off moisture in their leaves), look good for a long time, and can later be planted as cuttings.

At a workshop I taught, a student made this lovely bouquet of wired succulent rosettes, ‘Sticks on Fire’ stems, and red eucalyptus. For ballast, she added layers of sunrise-colored sand.

I made this bouquet before I learned the floral technique of wiring succulent rosettes. The reason for the arrangement was to show how the plants resemble flowers. It consists of aeoniums and graptoverias with long stems…always an option, but not easy to find!

These bouquets were for the launch party for my book, Succulents Simplified, which has those same plants on the cover. I used marbles as ballast and filled the vases with water to keep the flowers fresh. The faux stems are reinforced with bamboo skewers.

After the aloe flowers faded in the bouquet show earlier, I pulled them out and arranged the succulent rosettes in a different vase (with no water). They looked good for several more weeks.

I made this bouquet of echeverias, dwarf aloes and silver eucalyptus stems for a garden club at which I was speaking, to raffle off. It took me forever to wire so many rosettes (30 @ 3 min./ea. = 1-1/2 hours). The response made it worthwhile, but please don’t ask me to do it again!

The color of the vase inspired the selection of ‘Coppertone’ stonecrop, which in turn inspired blue echeverias for contrast.

Wired rosettes are top-heavy, so you need something to anchor them. Here I used crushed, tumbled glass. (I made this a few years ago. I wonder, should I have filled the jar with glass? At the time, I thought it was cool to let the wired stems show.) Succulents include jade, aeoniums, sedums, and in the center for texture contrast, a fuzzy kalanchoe. When stems are this short, you needn’t stabilize them with floral picks or bamboo skewers.

The colors of the rosettes inspired the colors of sand. (I keep a palette of colored sand in jars that occupy an entire bookshelf.) Read more about how this arrangement came together. 

I agreed to demonstrate how to make a succulent bouquet at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Few colorful succulents were available, so I wired red and silver tillandsias onto stems as filler and included dried material. I had brought a bag of split peas for ballast, so imagine my delight when my helper showed up with seeded eucalyptus—an unplanned yet perfect repetition.

More info ~

 

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