In the Garden: Dress up your holiday gatherings with a few succulents
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Add a bit of life to your holiday gatherings with the help of succulents. You and your guests will enjoy the easy-care beauty of succulents. Their subtle colors and dramatic form make them great gifts and decorations now and throughout the year.
Small-scale succulents provide a multitude of opportunities for incorporating them into your holiday celebrations. Just select containers that complement, but don’t overpower their charm.
Create a succulent garden to use as a centerpiece for the table. A shallow container filled with a variety of succulents with different shapes and colors is sure to capture everyone’s attention. Set the container on a saucer to protect the table and add a complementary table runner for even greater impact.
Consider using succulents as party favors for guests to take home and enjoy for years to come. But first, use them to decorate the table by making them into place cards for your guests. Simply add a name to the decorative pot.
Or display them all together in a tray, terra cotta saucer or other shallow container to use as a centerpiece throughout the evening. When the party is over, each guest can pick their own plant to take home.
Add a unique flair to the table by placing cocktail glasses filled with succulents next to each guest’s place setting. This makes a unique table decoration and party favor for guests to take home as a reminder of your fun gathering. Use a few planted cocktail glasses to decorate the beverage table or bar.
Grow these plants in a cacti and succulent potting mix. These fast-draining mixes help reduce the risk of overwatering. Further reduce this risk by using containers with drainage holes that are only slightly larger than the succulents' root system. Growing them in too large of a container for the plant size will retain moisture longer that can lead to root rot, decline, and even the death of your plants.
After the party, continue to provide proper care so your centerpiece will be ready for your next event. Move the succulent planter to a cool, draft-free location near an unobstructed south-, west- or east-facing window. If light is limited, consider adding artificial lights.
Water thoroughly but only when the top few inches of soil are dry and just often enough to keep the plants from shriveling. These winter-growing conditions often encourage a spring display of colorful and unique flowers.
Share these directions with your guest and if possible, the name of the succulent. This helps your guest keep the plants alive to enjoy for years to come.
With a trip to your favorite garden center and your imagination you can create fun holiday décor and party favors. You and your guests will enjoy their beauty throughout the holidays and beyond.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine, and her website is MelindaMyers.com, which features gardening videos, free webinars, monthly gardening tips, and more.
