Succulent Centerpieces
By Judy Casanova, special to HGTV.com
Colorful succulent plants can take a little of the stress out of holiday entertaining. Forget about watering these arrangements and you'll be fine! These fleshy-leaved plants hold moisture in their stems, roots or leaves (immersion in water will cause the stems to rot). So add drama and interest to your holiday table with these succulent ideas:
Use any type of container as long as the anchoring medium will hold the stems in place. This is easily done with floral foam, which is available in any floral supply shop. Or, you can use aquarium gravel, which conforms to any enclosed shape (figure A), comes in many colors and is especially nice at the base of clear glass bowls. The plants are heavy, however, so the base must be somewhat weighty or the arrangement will be top-heavy. Once you've chosen your container and anchoring medium, wash the cut plants that were cultivated outdoors. This will clean them up and get rid of lingering bugs. Submerge them in a large bucket containing water, rubbing alcohol, a little liquid soap and cayenne pepper. Bugs don't like cayenne pepper! One gardener swears fresh garlic buzzed with water in a blender is also quite effective.
Use low arrangements to create a centerpiece that won't block the view of your guests. This arrangement (figure B) calls for a very shallow bowl filled with floral foam.
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Figure C
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Figure D
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Figure E
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Prepare cut succulents for the arrangement. Because they have such heavy, thick stems, anchor them with toothpicks (figure C), bamboo skewers or wires. Begin working in threes with green-hued plants, like kalanchoe or crassula. There are many solid greens to choose from. Place each of the three stems adjacent to each other in the anchoring medium to form the points of a slightly lopsided triangle. Following that pattern, begin to fill in with more spectacular things with interesting colors, forms or textures—Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, commonly called flapjacks or paddle plant (figure D), aeoniums (Aeonium), echeverias (members of the genus Echeveria, which includes hens-and-chicks). Echeverias come in many colors and forms, and are characterized by large rosettes of thick leaves (figure E). When you have the bowl nearly covered, add some accent plants for added texture and interest. One favorite is wandering Jew (Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea', also called purple heart), valued for its spectacular purple color. This plant has a very soft stem, so don't ram a toothpick in there, a small wire will do. It grows easily in the house or out; in California it can get pretty rambunctious in the garden. Another good plant for interest and excitement is Portulacaria afra, often called elephant food. In Africa, elephants devour large bushes of this for its lemony taste. Here the variegated yellow and green small leaves and dark red angular stems contrast well with the large fleshy leaves of the echeveria.
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