I am renam­ing our book rec­om­men­da­tion this week to a Suc­cu­lent Book Review! I can nev­er have enough books about suc­cu­lents. We are suck­ers for suc­cu­lents and when I was at my local library last week, I picked up this great book about suc­cu­lents, “Suc­cu­lents for Begin­ners.” The fun­ny thing was, when I brought it home and my 11-year-old daugh­ter looked at it, she said, “Mom­my, why do you have a begin­ner’s book? You are an expert.” While I enjoyed the com­pli­ment, I know that you can nev­er stop learn­ing about any­thing. Suc­cu­lents are a pas­sion and I love a well-researched and pre­sent­ed book on the subject.

Succulents on a Palm Pod

Pho­to by Kit Wertz

We just fin­ished hold­ing our annu­al Suc­cu­lent Pump­kin Class at our stu­dio, and we shared tips on how to prop­a­gate suc­cu­lents, how to add them to pump­kins and the best type of soil to use to grow them. This book is great about show­ing how to prop­a­gate suc­cu­lents and also what the best soil options are for suc­cu­lent and cactus.

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Large suc­cu­lent pump­kin planters make won­der­ful Thanks­giv­ing cen­ter­pieces. Designs by Flower Duet. Pho­to by Kit Wertz.

This book is an overview on suc­cu­lents, so if you are look­ing for a more com­pre­hen­sive book about types of suc­cu­lents and cac­ti, then per­haps a suc­cu­lent book by Debra Lee Bald­win might be a bet­ter choice. My favorite page in Suc­cu­lents For Begin­ners, is the one that shows baby suc­cu­lents grow­ing out of indi­vid­ual suc­cu­lent leaves. This book is great for peo­ple who have suc­cu­lents at home and are look­ing for guid­ance on how to keep the hap­py and how to make new suc­cu­lent plants from their cur­rent crop.

Succulents

This pho­to is from the book: Suc­cu­lents For Begin­ners in our Suc­cu­lent Book Review

From the Ama­zon Page on this book:

“Suc­cu­lents for Begin­ners is the per­fect intro­duc­tion to this friend­ly and for­giv­ing plant fam­i­ly. Misa Matsuyama–the best­selling author of The Gar­den­er’s Guide to Suc­cu­lents–shows you how to plant and main­tain the most pop­u­lar vari­eties of suc­cu­lents and cac­ti with reas­sur­ing advice and min­i­mum fuss.

This book has over 200 clear, col­or pho­tos and illus­tra­tions and is absolute­ly packed full of all the basic infor­ma­tion you need to keep suc­cu­lents thriv­ing, including:

  • A detailed month-by-month grow­ing guide explain­ing all the plant­i­ng and main­te­nance steps–everything from prop­a­gat­ing and basic water­ing to repot­ting and group planting
  • A clear overview of the basic sea­son­al types and most pop­u­lar suc­cu­lent fam­i­lies and their par­tic­u­lar characteristics
  • Which plants, tools, soils, and con­tain­ers to use for the best results
  • Answers to fre­quent­ly asked ques­tions, giv­ing clear, con­cise solu­tions to the most com­mon issues encoun­tered by beginners
  • A spe­cial sec­tion on how to cre­ate a healthy envi­ron­ment for your plants so you can enjoy them for many years to come
  • Inspir­ing and cre­ative ways to dis­play your suc­cu­lents in dif­fer­ent rooms and locations–indoors or outdoors

The month-by-month for­mat and sim­ple, yet thor­ough, instruc­tions will have you refer­ring to this handy resource again and again. Gor­geous pho­tos and help­ful tips invite you to bring more and more of these plants into your life.”