Succulents for Your Home and Garden: A Guide to Growing 191 Beautiful Varieties and 11 Step-by-Step Crafts and Arrangements

Smith (Cacti and Succulents Handbook), the former president of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study, and Surface, who creates and sells succulent arrangements, present an accessible introduction to caring for and crafting with succulents. The authors profile the “top 75 succulents for crafting” (selected for their looks and durability) and detail how to grow them, noting, for instance, that Hylotelephium cauticola do best outdoors, while Aeonium haworthii can withstand freezing temperatures, and Echeveria affinis thrive when kept in direct sunlight. Projects show how to incorporate succulents into small topiary sculptures, wall art, or a crown, among other items. The “Pumpkin Topiary” involves gluing a pumpkin stem to a water-soaked moss ball and then gluing Sempervivum Ohio Burgundy and Echeveria Blue Rose on top. The “Living Succulent Mirror Frame” entails lining a mirror with moss secured by chicken wire and gluing on succulent rosettes. The projects are impressive in their ingenuity and arresting, though an appendix outlining 116 additional succulent varieties disappointingly omits the helpful care instructions included in the 75 earlier profiles. Still, green-thumbed crafters will find this a rich source of inspiration. (Aug.)