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Gardening with Galligan: A passion for succulents

Succulents displayed on the author's shelves.
CAROL GALLIGAN PHOTO | Succulents displayed on the author’s shelves.

Last fall, I spent a lot of time composing that farewell letter to all of you, my fellow gardeners. Now you see I can’t be trusted. I’ll be writing a column every fourth week for the season, which means we can’t do the same old, same old, in which I harry, instruct, insist and otherwise make a nuisance of myself telling you what to do and when. We’ll have to do something different.

My plan for the first several weeks, and maybe longer, depending, is to tell you about my latest garden preoccupation (and no, it’s not trying to grow carrots from tops, I gave that up) — it’s succulents. As is often the case in life, I sort of stumbled into this arena and now love it. Last Christmas, I was in Westchester at my daughter’s where I used to live and dropped into the local nursery just to say ‘hi.’ I used to spend a lot of time there.

Of course, I browsed the greenhouse and was struck by two very pretty small plantings, one in a grey brick, and the other in a glass bowl. The latter reminded me of my childhood, when glass bowls were often used to display single floating flowers. I bought them both and brought them home and then realized I hadn’t the foggiest notion how to care for them. So I called and received what was to me amazing advice. Ready for this? One quarter of a cup of water every two weeks. Every two weeks? Yes. Can you imagine? A planting so pretty, asking for so little? I fell instantly in love.

Then I came across, in a catalog I’ve been getting for ages, even prettier plantings of succulents in weathered wood and others in moss baskets that could hang on the wall. That blew the March budget almost entirely, because once they arrived I had to buy something to put them all in. I found a small white bookshelf that would fit in my kitchen and now they’re there. That catalog is “Viva Terra” and if you’re not on the company’s list, I recommend putting yourself there. You can reach them at (800) 247-6799 or online at www.vivaterra.com.

However, there are two small problems — actually, one small and another a bit larger. The small one? I realized, only having had them a short time, that I had no idea when I watered them last. The thought of keeping a list was basically annoying so I decided to water on the 15th and the 30th. Simple enough. Working well to date. Now, for the slightly bigger problem. I had no idea what any one of them was. They certainly must have names. What were they? No clue. So my plan for the foreseeable future is to find out. One way is through this column where I can pass on what I manage to learn. Another is to hope people around here who know about succulents read this and get in touch. I’m in the book.

As a show of good faith, this is what I’ve learned so far: succulents are plants with thickened leaves that retain water in climates or soil conditions where moisture is lacking. The word succulent comes from the Latin “sucus,” meaning “juice” or “sap.” They are often deemed “ornamental” because of their unusual appearance. Wikipedia refers to them as “striking.” I couldn’t agree more.

To be continued.