Succulent Wreath from VivaTerra - $89.00

Succulent in vintage containers from My Vintage Addiction (top right photo) – starting at $15.95

Hardy Succulents by Gwen Moore Kelaidis – starting at $13.57

Cactus Eggling from Chocosho - $9.50

You can also make your own succulent gift with a dish garden (top left photo). A dish garden is basically like a small-scale landscape with a variety of houseplants. Which is just what the gardener needs when outside is all about the grays and browns of winter, right?

Succulents and cacti are especially pleasing in this type of houseplant design because of the gazillion varieties that are out there, each offering different shades of green, some with pink-edged leaves, others with the surprise flower or two and all kinds of heights from stout to spindly. Many of the big home improvement stores carry succulents and different cacti during the winter—and with each plant being around $2.00 each, you can pick a bunch and not break the bank.

You'll need a shallow bowl (can be glazed pottery or terracotta), some potting soil mixed with a bit of sand and whatever treasures you plan on planting. Arrange the plants in the bowl as you would like them to stay. Fill potting soil in around the plants—you can either keep them in their plastic nursery pots or pot them up in the new potting soil. You can also put a layer of stones on top of the soil for a real desert feel. (Tumbleweeds optional.)

Succulents and cacti like to be in a southern- or western-facing window and need very little water. Repeat this over and over to yourself, whenever you are tempted to water them. They will love you for the neglect. Go figure.

12/22/09 1:30 PM