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| Photo Credit: Jennifer Manning |
| This miniature succulent garden is full of great drought-tolerant colors and textures. |
Planting a container filled with wonderful succulents is a great way to create a drought-tolerant, water-wise dish garden. Succulents offer interesting textures, shapes and colors, and they can give your garden year-round interest.
I happen to think that because succulents are such interesting plants, they deserve unique containers. The pots don’t have to be fancy – just different than the standard shape. Since succulents don’t need a large soil reservoir for water, it’s okay to choose a short, wide container with room for several varieties. Choosing the plants for your succulent container garden can be a fun adventure. You’ve probably seen them in your local garden center, but you’ve likely walked right by on your way to the more popular bedding plants or perennials. If you want a larger succulent selection to choose from, you may want to check out mail-order catalogs or Websites for the more obscure – but still easy-to-grow – options. Just be sure to read the plant descriptions so you buy succulents with similar water and sun-exposure requirements. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Jennifer Manning | | Stonecrops and hens and chicks make great pairings in a succulent dish garden. |
Here are some great plant choices to particularly look for:
Sempervivum, also known as hens and chicks, is a terrific choice thanks to its vigor and drought-tolerant nature. The cultivar ‘Spring Beauty’ has evergreen foliage and grows about 3-4 inches tall. Another great cultivar is ‘Silver King’. This one blooms in summer and grows to about 4-6 inches tall, offering wonderful foliage colors. Sedum, which also goes by the name stonecrop, is another nice drought-tolerant pick – and it attracts butterflies! ‘Purple Emperor’ is a cultivar that grows to 16 inches tall and has attractive dark purple foliage with pink flower clusters appearing in midsummer. S. spurium ‘Schorbuser Blut’, also known as ‘Dragon’s Blood’, has flat, purple-tinged leaves that turn reddish-bronze in fall. It’s a shorty at only 4-6 inches. Red flowers bloom from early summer to fall. Another plant to try is Lewisia, or bitter root. ‘Sunset Strain’, in particular, has gorgeous blooms in colors of pure pink to orange and yellow. This beauty flowers from late spring to early summer and often reblooms in fall. It grows about 6-8 inches tall.
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