Succulents are probably familiar to the Southern California dweller, but you may not have heard of them if you live in a rainy area. These typically desert dwelling plants store water in their leaves and roots, which gives them a trademark fuller, fleshier look known as “succulence”. They come in every size, from tiny little plants that can fit on a cocktail ring to giant agave plants and towering cacti. While all cacti are part of the succulent family, there is a huge variety of non-spiny succulents that are not considered cacti (seriously, there are so many).

While the different varieties come from the drier climates as far as Africa, South America, Asia and in the United States, they have become identifiable with the Southern California region because of their popularity as garden and home accents and their water saving properties. Some of our favorite varieties include string of buttons, zebra plants, black roses, flapjacks, and different types of echeveria. We love how easy they are to care for. They are drought resistant and hard to over-water. Most varieties do well both indoors and outdoors. You can also mix and match them in the same container, and fit them almost anywhere you need to – in a flower pot, on a wall, in a garden, or inside a terrarium. We even take them on the road to spruce up the the trade show booth, because they can handle being left in a car or getting bumped around a bit.

Succulents also create a lot of visual interest, because they take on so many shapes, textures and colors: concentric circles, spirals, columns and random forms of green and purple and red.  Most recently, our resident stylist spotted an ideal location for the Spring lookbook shoot in a local LA backyard. Once we saw the pictures below, we were sold!