Succulents and More™

Greg Starr needs little introduction. He’s an inveterate traveler and plant explorer, a leading expert on agaves, the author of many articles and several books, and a popular speaker on the cactus club lecture circuit. His contributions to botany include the formal description of eight species and one subspecies of Agave [ 1 ], three species of Hesperaloe [ 2 ], and one cactus species [ 3 ]. In addition, he is the owner and operator of Starr Nursery in Tucson, AZ. In 2021, Greg published the revised edition of Cool Plants for Hot Gardens highlighting 150 plants ideally suited for arid climates ( click here to read my review). His new book, Cool Cacti and Succulents for Hot Gardens , is a companion resource. It features 150 water-smart choices for the Southwestern U.S. and California as well as dry regions of Australia and parts of Europe that have a Mediterranean climate. In the introduction, Greg explains how to use the book and briefly touches on things like climate zones, planti...

In California and elsewhere in the West, more and more homeowners are replacing lawns and thirsty plants with a water-wise landscape. Interest in plants that look great even with little water has never been higher. There are plenty of resources online that showcase plants suitable for parched climates, but often they’re the same 20 or 30 stalwarts. If you want to go beyond the usual suspects, I have just the book you need: Cool Plants for Hot Gardens  by Greg Starr. Cool Plants for Hot Gardens , 2nd edition This is a completely revised second edition of the book originally published in 2009 by Rio Nuevo Publishers. Large parts were revamped from the ground up. “Tired” plants were removed and exciting newer introductions added. There are more photos and they are larger than before, giving readers a better idea of what the plant looks like. Finally, Greg took out all succulents and cacti because they’ll be the subject of a companion book, Cool Cactus and Succulents for Hot Garden , s...

I first met Jenny Stocker at the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling in Austin, Texas. At the time, Jenny was living in Austin, and her fabulous walled garden was on the Fling itinerary. On her blog Rock Rose she documented the evolution of her Austin garden for many years. In November 2021, Jenny and her husband David moved to Tucson, Arizona to be closer to their son. It was quite a change for them, going from a 2-acre property with multiple garden areas to a significantly smaller property with a patio for a backyard, not to mention acclimating to a completely different environment. When I was in Tucson last month, Jenny and David graciously invited me over for brunch. Even though I’d gotten glimpses of their garden on Jenny’s blog, my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the views from their house: Yes, that is what they see from their kitchen, dining room, and living room, and of course from their patio! Their backyard is small, but the views are so expansive, it feels like they’re right ...

Quite a few universities have an official botanical garden (like UC Berkeley ) or arboretum (like UC Davis ), but there’s only one I know where the entire campus is dedicated to plants: Pitzer College in the Southern California town of Claremont. Ocotillo ( Fouquieria splendens ) A private liberal arts college with about 1,100 students, Pitzer is part of the Claremont Colleges , a consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate schools all located on one integrated campus about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The entire campus is about 1 square mile in size, so all the colleges are within walking distance of each other. Most of them have fairly traditional landscaping—lawn, shrubs and trees—but Pitzer is different. Very different. All of Pitzer is one giant succulent garden. Beautiful clump of Agave titanota next to Amazon lockers The person who made it all happen is Joe Clements. The former curator of the Desert Garden at the Huntington in San Marino 25 miles up the road w...