No one wants to commit an etiquette gaffe, but when it comes to garden tours, plant shows and sales, and going to nurseries big and small, it's easy to do. We get caught up in all things spring and can be, well, clueless. Perfect for spring garden touring: A garden hat decorated with succulents. By Laura Balaoro for Better Homes & Gardens. Get hat-decorating how-to and design ideas. Yes, we’ll wear sunscreen, closed-toe shoes and bring a hat and drinking water. We’ll park legally, duh. But have you considered… Owners of private gardens would rather you don’t bring pets; uninvited or ..read more

Save the Dates! Upcoming Succulent Shows & Sales  Some of these open early for members. I've listed dates and times that events welcome the general public. Details may change as dates approach; click links to verify.  SAT-SUN April 13-14 Monterey Bay Area C&SS Spring Sale and Show, Portuguese Hall, 124 Atkinson Lane, Watsonville, CA 95076 SAT-SUN April 13-14, 9 to 4 South Coast C&SS Show & Sale, Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA SUN April 14, 9 to 4 Conejo Cactus & Succulent Society Spring Sale, 558 N Ventu Park ..read more

Dwarf or “star” aloes are becoming hugely popular. They’re collectible because they stay small and are perfect for pots. No two cultivars are exactly alike, yet all share similarities. Aloe 'Blizzard' has pleasing zig-zag patterns. Pot by Port Town Pottery Often they're textured with elongated bumps or have teeth along leaf margins that contrast with leaf color. In my new video, you'll see me pot-up three different dwarf aloes from Oasis Water Efficient Gardens Nursery. A royal blue pot contrasts with the orange hues of the aloes. Sedum rubrotinctum ‘Aurora’ fills gaps. Tip: Before discar ..read more

At this Southern CA destination garden, life-sized topiary figures of Mexican mariachi musicians and dancers wear colorful, ingenious costumes planted with succulents. Topiary dancers in the SDBG's Mexican garden The skillfully made, well-maintained figures are worthy of a Rose Parade float. But they're not in Pasadena; instead, 100 miles south at the San Diego Botanic Garden. Succulent cuttings used for the figures suggest hair, pearls, lace, ruffles, and patterned fabric. Hats and instruments are made of brass. This guitar player's curly hair is ripple jade. Nonsucculent embellishment ..read more

Josh Allen is making his dream come true: Developing a nursery and botanic garden specializing in rare succulents and cycads. “There’s a big market for beautiful, hard-to-find plants,” he says, adding that creating new hybrids and "playing with plant genetics" are what he does best. He especially enjoys Aloe hybridizing and  breeding rare and desirable species. Mesh bags catch seeds and ensure that bees and birds don't disturb hand-pollinated aloe flowers.  Josh chose a three-acre, rocky hilltop in Southern California for his “Fairview Nursery and Botanical Gardens” because of ..read more

Photos show the garden six weeks after installation. Just want plant names? Scroll to the list below.  This long, narrow succulent garden alongside a busy street presented challenges many landscape designers might find daunting. Not so Hannah Eubanks, a lead designer for owners (and parents) Laura and Greg Eubanks of Design for Serenity. In a streetside garden near a busy intersection, utilitarian items are inevitable, but with a little ingenuity, they needn't be eyesores.  The succulent-scape Hannah recently created for Grangetto's Farm and Garden Supply's Escondido location sho ..read more

Gray-green calandrinia (Cistanthe grandiflora) shrubs sit quietly, building their strength, from late summer until spring. Then, like the fireworks they resemble, they explode with neon-bright blooms. Here and in my new video you'll find out how to keep calandrinia healthy and flowering, and how to use it to enhance your own garden. Calandrinia is native to Chile. Rising above its oval, gray-green leaves float masses of magenta, poppylike flowers. Buds along spaghetti-thin, branching stems open successively. The 2- to 3-foot-tall flower stems of calandrinia are unusual among succulents ..read more

One of the most widely grown succulents in California from the coast to the foothills is Aloe arborescens (torch aloe). There’s no need to buy it. It’s so common, it’s a “pass-along plant,” meaning friendly neighbors who grow it will likely give you cuttings. But before you go knocking on doors, here’s what you need to know to grow Aloe arborescens and keep it thriving. Easy-care aloe Aloe arborescens is from southeastern Africa. Its found from Mozambique to Cape Town in South Africa---regions climactically similar to California from the Bay Area to San Diego. This is one of the easiest l ..read more

Kalanchoe luciae, commonly called paddle plant or flapjack plant, is a highly popular succulent due to its bright coloration and flat, rounded, pancake-like leaves. These are green near the stem and red on the edges. Kalanchoe luciae, perfectly colored  Shades of red in paddle plants vary from rose and magenta to burgundy; greens go from lime to teal blue. Here's how to select and grow pancake kalanchoes and keep their colors vibrant. Those red leaves! It’s true of Kalanchoe luciae---and many crassulas and aloes---the more light, the redder the leaves and the tighter the growth ..read more

I love a good succulent plant hack---a clever solution to a common problem---especially if the hack utilizes something unexpected. I offer a dozen here.  And if you have a hack, tip, or workaround that has to do with succulents, would you kindly share it in the Comments? Thanks! Carry cacti with firewood tongs Eileen Haag of Lakeside, CA notes that a friend who donated "some sections of fence post cactus" to a charity plant sale she was in charge of, transported them with "fireplace log tongs. They make handling the large pieces so much easier and safer than my bailing twine method," E ..read more