6 EVERGREEN GARDEN SUCCULENTS: WINTER PROOF! - LIFESTYLE

6 garden succulents that resist all year round

Placing succulents in your garden is a smart move: you give a touch of perennial green to the outdoor space without spending too much time on it! With our suggestions you will have at your fingertips the most resistant species for the outdoors. If you like the result, you can think of replicating also indoors based on the exposure of the rooms; did you know that some plants purify the air? Watch the video below and find out which ones we are talking about!

Garden succulents: characteristics

Surely the main feature of a succulent plant is the presence of thorns, the equivalent of the leaves for other plant species.The thorns in this plant type are a genetic mutation that allows them to survive and thrive in very arid climates.
The other distinctive feature of a succulent plant is the thickness of the leaves: some species almost seem to have swellings in the outermost parts, this is because the plant has developed a very particular capacity in the tissues that serves to imprison the water and thus overcome long periods of drought.
They are truly amazing!

You can naturally find them in countries where the temperature is really high, but there are also families that resist the cold well. The most common are grown in the garden, on the balcony or even in pots inside the house. Just guarantee them the appropriate habitat.
How can we take care of them so that they last all year and grow over time?
If you have chosen the right species, which we will soon enlighten you about, keeping a succulent plant even in winter is much easier than you think: if your garden is exposed to the South or in any case has a good sun exposure, you are already at half work; another factor to be aware of is the amount of precipitation that must never be high for the soil of the succulent plant.
Let's see how to cultivate them in a simple way.

How succulents are grown in the garden

Succulents, another term to identify succulent plants, are grown well in those sandy soils that require scarce quantities of water.
They live in sun-kissed soils that suffer little from humidity. Therefore, the success of the plant's survival depends a lot on where you live and as mentioned above, on the orientation of your garden. Fortunately, the soil does not require particular compositions: it will be enough to make sure that it provides good water drainage to see the chosen family. multiply. The ideal fertilizer for a succulent is rich in phosphorus and potassium.

When to fertilize succulents in the garden? The correct period starts from the end of winter until the beginning of spring; in this way you will stimulate its growth as much as possible. If the plant is healthy, you may even find new flowers in the warm season!

Store them in a place sheltered from the elements, not so much the wind as the rain, which risks over-irrigating the dry soil of the plants.

As you can see, growing a succulent plant in the garden is really very simple, but always keep an eye on the external appearance of your garden ornament: even the most resistant species can be attacked by some pests. The main threat to a succulent is mealybug, a parasite that feeds on the plant's sap and can attack the roots. When you notice a slight wilting of the plant it will probably be the fault of this sneaky insect. Other threats can come from: eels, lethal if not eradicated in time and red spider that causes cracking on the surface.

Evergreen succulents for the garden

In summer it is not difficult to find balconies and outdoor spaces embellished with flowering succulents, thanks to their ability to retain water in the leaves thanks to the aquifer parenchyma.
The water contained in the fabrics gives the leaves the typical fleshy appearance, while the shapes are original and different according to the family they belong to: spherical, elongated or rosette.

In winter it is a bit rarer to find healthy plants. In general, it is a difficult season for many outdoor plants, as light is scarce and low temperatures put a strain on many of the plant species that thrive in other climates. However, many varieties of succulents are very resistant, and tolerate the cold well. So let's see which are the perfect evergreen succulents for the winter.

1. Echeveria

Echeveria is a succulent plant belonging to the Crassulaceae family. Its name pays homage to the Mexican painter Atanasio Echeverria who loved to paint these plants in his paintings.

Echeveria is a genus that includes dozens of species of succulents, all characterized by fleshy leaves with a rosette shape. The size varies depending on the species, some are really small and are suitable for growing in mini houseplants, others are larger and can be placed in terracotta pots in the garden or in the ground itself.
The dominant colors of the leaves are green and gray-blue, while those of the flowers are red and pink, which tend to appear in the center of the plant with long stems (see image below).

You can plant them in gardens that receive direct morning sun, then semi-shaded. Echeveria does not like direct rays in summer because they are too strong for the leaves, but it does well in winter light. It tolerates cold temperatures well, but as a precaution you can protect it with a breathable sheet or you can move it to a sheltered place.

2. Cactus

For cacti we do not suggest a single plant, but a whole family of succulent plants, namely the Cactaceae: there are 3000 species belonging to this family!
The most suitable cactus to be placed in the garden is Trichocereus Pasacana; do not think in fact that all cacti are suitable for outdoor use, given the large number of species it is easy instead that many of them cannot be chosen as outdoor succulents.

Trichocereus Pasacana grows well outdoors, in pots or in the garden, and survives well in winter, even when temperatures drop below 0, up to a maximum of -10 °.

What is the typical shape of this Cactaceae? You can easily recognize it from the column shape, which in some specimens can be up to 10 meters high.
If you have a nice outdoor green space, grow it by placing it in sunny places and where the soil is well drained.
Curiosity: the succulent plant blooms in the summer at night! If you take care of it properly, you might wake up one morning to find it with really striking white and pink flowers.
Immediately immortalize the event: the flower blooms at sunset but remains open only for 1 or 2 days ...

3. Sedum Palmieri

Coming from Mexico, it is a succulent plant extremely hardened against the cold; some species even proliferate in the Himalayas and are therefore an excellent investment for those who are not very practical in gardening!

It is a classic outdoor evergreen that hangs downwards and it is no coincidence that it embellishes many balconies or rock walls even here in Italy. The Sedum also cultivated well in pots or directly in the soil of the garden, provided that its position allows it to receive a few hours a day of light.

Good news for those who are not green fingers: Sedum should not even be watered in winter. What's more, in February it offers beautiful yellow flowers that are said to have therapeutic qualities similar to those of aloe. In summer, just remember to wet it every 10-15 days.

4. Aloe Vera

Like the cactus, the Aloe is also a family of succulent plants. Hundreds of different species belong to them: they share the shape of the leaves which are typically rosette, pointed at the top and sometimes with the presence of thorns.

The Aloe species most suitable for outdoor use is Aloe Vera.
Place it in a well-lit space in the garden; the plant loves the direct rays of the sun only in the morning. Perfect soil is dry and well-drained. Like all other succulents, it must be sheltered from rains and extremely cold temperatures.
Aloe Vera has a tubular flower that appears in spring, and is characterized by a red, orange or yellow color. This time, unlike the cactus we presented above, the flowering lasts all summer.

We mentioned earlier the beneficial properties of Sedum, but aloe also has some of them. The inside of its leaves in particular can give relief against burns and refresh during the summer months. It is no coincidence that many cosmetic production houses use it as the main ingredient in their products.

5. Houseleek major (Jupiter's beard)

The genus of the houseleek is very particular, because it is a species that evolves continuously: new ones are often born and sometimes it is not even possible to insert them in the botanical nomenclature.

In Italy the most widespread species is the greater Houseleek, better known as the Jupiter's Beard. It is a succulent outdoor plant widely used in construction thanks to its insulating properties: it can make roofs and surfaces extremely waterproof.
You can see Jupiter's Beard embellishing balconies and gardens as it resists both the North and the South well. It adapts to many climates, both rigid and temperate ones, because its roots are very deep and collect the substances necessary to proliferate without need of great care on the surface.
The greater houseleek is an excellent choice for decorating your garden as it gives particular shades depending on the season: in winter the leaves are intense green, while in autumn they are tinged with red, to become even more lively during flowering with the shades of pink, purple and lilac.

Store the succulent garden plant in a sunny spot on rocky ground.

6. Rebutia Minuscula

Don't be fooled by the name, although small, the succulent plant is truly one of the toughest against low temperatures and bad weather.
It even grows at about 4000mt of altitude in the mountains of Bolivia and Argentina.
The shape of the Rebutia Minuscola is rounded and is indeed very small, so it is perfect to be inserted in a garden with a small space dedicated to plants.
Why choose it as a perennial garden plant? It is very hardy and its flowers beautifully decorate any outdoor space: they last several months, from spring to late autumn, and have an orange, red or yellow color that changes depending on the variety purchased.
If you like the idea of making it bloom well, place it in the sun.