cactus

Succulents are coveted for their year-round interesting foliage color. Unlike many other plants, you don't have to wait for flowers to see bright colors fill the landscape. Succulents come in every color of the rainbow--making it easy to design a color-rich landscape. 

It is important to note that succulents bring out their most vibrant colors when they are in the appropriate environment. Succulents are happiest in coastal full-sun, protected from direct afternoon sun in-land. If your plants are not showing vibrant colors, it's time to move them into more sunlight. 

Learn how to pair the plants you love with our succulent color guide. Listed below are our favorite succulents categorized by color. We’ve included not only foliage color, but spectacular blooms as well.

Aloe deltoideodonta blooms coral-orange flowers that attract hummingbirds in winter.

Sedum nussbaumerianum comes in many different tones of orange. 

Aloe vanbalenii and Aloe juvenna are a muted orange-brown in full summer sun. 

Aeonium leucoblepharum
Aloe juvenna
Aloe plicatilis (flowers)
Aloe vanbalenii 
Aloe striata 
Euphorbia ‘Sticks on Fire’
Sedum nussbaumerianum

 

Red

Aeonium 'Blushing Beauty' turns bright red in late Spring-Fall.

Crassula nudicaulis var. platyphylla 'Burgundy' is bright red in Summer. 

Aloe cameronii has bright burgundy foliage in Summer. 

Both Echeveria minima and Crassula conjuncta have blue foliage and red margins. This pair has almost identical coloring but maintains interest with different textures.

Echeveria agavoides 'Lipstick' is named for its bright red leaf margins that appear in full sun. 

Aeonium ‘Blushing Beauty’
Crassula nudicaulis var. platyphylla ‘Burgundy’
Crassula coccinea ‘Campfire’
Crassula ovata var. compacta
Echeveria agavoides ‘Lipstick’
Echeveria pulvinata
Kalanchoe luciae
Kalanchoe sexangularis
Sedum rubrotinctum

Purple

Mangave 'Purple People Eater' and 'Freckles and Speckles' are a great lavender addition for container gardens. 

 Learn about the origins of cacti and how to care for them.

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There are at least a half dozen Opuntias in bud or bloom now. The flowers are beautiful in shades of red, orange, yellow, salmon, purple and other color variations. The plants are wicked! Some have spines that are tiny and float in the air when the plant is bumped, such as Opuntia microdasys. Cholla cactus which looks like Opuntia, with 1" to 2" spines, was included in the genus Opuntia, but has been reclassified as a separate genus, Cylindropuntia. The spines continue to be barbed and vicious, even though they're not still, technically, "Opuntia."

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Many people ask me, what is the difference between a cactus and a succulent? All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. Cacti are new world plants, meaning they all originated in the Americas. I know there are some beautiful cactus gardens in North Africa and around the Mediterranean, but the fact is all of the cacti originated in the Americas. To keep this simple, let's just say that most cacti have spines and there are 1,000's of varieties. When working with cacti as opposed to most other succulents, know that cacti use less water than other succulents and require better drainage and aeration in the soil they are grown in. to accomplish this, double the amount of amendment added to the soil compared to what you would do with other succulents. If you're landscaping in the ground, in areas where there is 20 or more inches of rain per year, you will be more successful by creating a raised bed in which to plant the cacti.

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