Designing with succulents

Debra Lee Baldwin

Book - 2017

This new, completely revised second edition of her bestselling classic is a design compendium that is as practical as it is inspirational. Designing with Succulents shares design and cultivation basics; hundreds of succulent plant recommendations; and profiles of 50 easy-care, drought-tolerant companion plants. Lavishly illustrated with 400 photographs, you will find everything you need to visualize, create, and nurture a thriving, water-smart succulent garden.

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Subjects
Published
Portland, Oregon : Timber Press 2017.
Language
English
Main Author
Debra Lee Baldwin (author)
Edition
Completely revised second edition
Item Description
First edition published 2007.
Physical Description
303 pages : color illustrations ; 27 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-290) and index.
ISBN
9781604697087
Contents unavailable.
Review by Choice Review

Now completely revised, this second edition of Baldwin's classic book on succulent culture covers every topic a succulent enthusiast could ask for. Baldwin's personal experiences illuminate every chapter, and each is profusely illustrated with excellent, informative photographs. Planning and designing are the subjects of the first chapter, followed by a chapter on specialty gardens that showcase succulents. This section provides a thorough consideration of growing conditions, including fire resistant, roof, seaside and sea-themed, cold-climate, and container gardens and even miniature plantings. The next chapter on success secrets offers advice on watering, grooming, disease and pest protection, avoiding water damage, and propagation methods. A long alphabetical list of the author's favorite and foolproof species is followed by a list of plants by category--size, color, and texture--and a list of 50 "water wise" succulent companion plants. Just leafing through this book and perusing the illustrations is enough to inspire a gardener to start growing succulents, no matter how limited the space or planting circumstances. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Leroy G. Kavaljian, California State University, Sacramento

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review

The world of succulent gardening has changed dramatically since the 2007 first edition of this book. The gardening public thought of succulents as cactus or jade and dismissed the entire category as too spiny or common, Baldwin writes. With much greater awareness today of the array of options succulents offer the home gardener, the author has largely revamped her original book more than doubling the design section by adding a lot more photos throughout the book and by bulking up the text with insights, such as why succulents are fire-resistant (high moisture content and nonflammable oils). She's helpfully consolidated all of the succulent species into alphabetical order she'd previously grouped them by color or shape. Unfortunately, there's still not much info here on growing succulents in cold or wet climates, so this will serve gardeners primarily in the hot, arid southwestern United States. But it will serve them well.--Moores, Alan Copyright 2017 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

Introduction Succulent describes any plant that survives drought by storing water in its leaves, stems, or roots. These plants were far from my mind when I began gardening in my early thirties. Because I wanted big, bold, beautiful flowers, I planted cannas and rose bushes, despite the fact that in southern California (USDA zone 9) rain falls minimally and mostly in February, the soil lacks nutrients, and inland temperatures range from 25 to 105°F. From spring through fall, such plants continually need mulching, fertilizing, pruning, spraying, irrigating, and deadheading. As a garden photojournalist, I was influenced by editors, design professionals, colleagues, homeowners, and horticulturists who believed that gardening is an endeavor that ought to suit the region. It was my job to communicate via words and photos why certain residential outdoor environments were innovative and appealing--not only visually but also practically. As I strove to entertain and enlighten the gardening public, I became inspired myself. One midwinter, when my garden consisted of pruned and naked rose bushes, cannas with frost-burned leaves, and perennials that had been cut to the ground, I visited the garden of horticulturist Patrick Anderson midway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Despite its poor soil and lack of irrigation, his garden was lush and colorful. It was the first time I had seen large aloes in a garden setting. The ensuing article reflected my fascination: "Fleshy green monsters in Patrick Anderson's Fallbrook garden look like they might snap him up if he turns his back," it began. "They're giant succulents, and Anderson's half-acre hillside showcases hundreds of unusual ones." I described aloes that "pierce the sky like exotic torchbearers, hot orange against cool blue," and agaves that "sprawl like squids, or explode upward like fistfuls of knives." I noticed how two or three varieties of succulents selected for shape, color, and texture create elegant and eye-catching vignettes. Succulents with curved or undulating leaves suggest motion, which makes any garden more interesting. Moreover, like seashells and snowflakes, succulent foliage forms patterns that illustrate nature's innate geometry and that are mesmerizing when repeated. I soon learned firsthand that in a warm, dry climate, succulents and similarly low-water perennials make sense economically, aesthetically, and ecologically. Aeonium arboreum and A. haworthii, Agave americana 'Marginata', and Bulbine frutescens proved trouble-free--as did the aloes, sedums, senecios, kalanchoes, and graptopetalums that followed. I found succulents easy to propagate and appealing wherever I put them. I began hunting gardens that showcased succulents and over the years have discovered them throughout the West and as far away as Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New England. This book, the result, offers numerous alternatives to traditional lawn-and-flowerbed landscapes, shows what's possible when succulents shine as primary garden elements, and explains how to cultivate these versatile plants in the ground and in containers. It's an exciting time to be a succulent aficionado; numerous ornamental hybrids have recently been released or are in production. In years to come, watch for named cultivars with greater heat and cold tolerance, longer bloom cycles, multicolored flowers, disease resistance, and leaves that are vividly hued, variegated, or textured. Succulent gardens far and wide Succulents range from tall trees to ground covers with rice-size leaves. Among their native habitats are South American jungles, California's coastal cliffs, high-elevation mountains in Africa, and arid Arizona plains. In cultivation, they look good alongside meandering pathways, in formal settings with geometric lines, in rock gardens, and in pots on patios, balconies, and rooftops--to name a few of many possible settings. Most, but not all, of the succulents included here come from areas of the world that are hot and dry and that receive minimal rainfall. These plants are best suited to USDA zones 9 and 10, although they can survive outdoors in zones 8 and 11 with adequate protection from frost, excessive heat, and moisture. This ideal climate is found sporadically in latitudes from 20 to 40 degrees, especially in marine-influenced, nontropical areas of the U.S. South and Southwest, Mexico, Pakistan, northern India, eastern China, Taiwan, southern Japan, South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Mediterranean. Excerpted from Designing with Succulents: 10th Anniversary Edition by Debra Lee Baldwin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.