Nearly 200 succulents are California Natives
Succulents are plants with thick and fleshy leaves and stems that thicken and engorge to retain water. There are 10,000 types of succulents. A quick search for succulents on Calscape, the California Native Plant Society website, yields 196 results.
The advantages to succulents in your house or yard include their attractive and versatile colors, textures, shapes and forms, ability to thrive in hot weather with limited water and little care, and their longevity. Also, their tough, prickly, and fuzzy leaves are unappealing to deer and other garden pests.
Popular spring and summer succulents are Echeveria, Sempervivum, Agave, and Sedum. In winter, Cotyledon, Kalanchoe, and Aloe make lovely houseplants. My Sedum stonecrop blooms a light pink, and my Sedum neon sends up a stalk of showy pink. Ice plant flowers in brilliant purple, yellow, and magenta. All succulents do go dormant, and you can see the new growth when they break dormancy. During my succulents’ dormancy, I either prune just the leaves that have shriveled and died back or take them all the way down to the soil.
Succulents flourish in temperatures between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. They can tolerate temperatures down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but you should protect them from frost by covering them with frost cloth or bringing them indoors. Succulents can stand temperatures up to 100 degrees and take full sun. They are, however, happier planted on the east side of the house or under a tree or shrub for partial shade. In the lower foothills, I have Sedum adolphii and Stonecrop in pots on the ground where they get afternoon shade. Succulent leaves store water, so if the leaves or the stems shrivel, water them. Water them also if you see white, beige or black spots on leaves; they are sunburned. To protect them in elevated temperatures, you could move your succulents to more shade or cover them with shade cloth.
Let your succulents dry out between waterings to prevent root rot.
Succulents can live in any type of soil that is not overly rich. Even though their roots are shallow, they still need sandy, well-draining, and permeable soil. They prefer being crowded, but you should thin their roots periodically.
Succulents are easy to propagate. Separate the pups or offsets that grow at the base or the stem, or the plantlets that grow on the leaves of the Kalanchoe and gently push them in soil. You can also propagate by taking stem cuttings. Let them callous over for about a week and then insert them in soil. They will form roots in about two weeks. Prune overgrown succulent stems and leaves.
You can fertilize your succulents once or twice during the growing season or more often if you see the need. Too much nitrogen in the fertilizer softens the succulents’ tissues that makes them susceptible to rot.
This warm summer in the foothills, enjoy low-maintenance succulents that will make your garden both colorful and interesting.
This article by UC Master Gardener of El Dorado County Kit Smith originally appeared in the Mountain Democrat in July 2026.
We have a beautiful succulent garden at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden in Placerville, and during Open Garden hours, a volunteer docent is available to show you around.