SUCCULENTS SIMPLIFIED, Debra Lee Baldwin
I think we can all agree that succulents are hot. In California, hot can translate to Dry and Dry to Drought. Which we have. I also think that we all want green, living things around us and that in our present dry state, succulents and cacti can fill an ever-widening void for both landscape professionals and every day green lovers.
Debra Lee Baldwin is a notable expert on succulents and succulent gardening. In her book, Succulents Simplified, Debra keeps it easy enough for someone taking their first stab at succulent gardening but interesting for any landscape professional. With plenty of photographs and simple care instructions including recommendations for no water and low water plants, I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t need and want to take a long hard, look at this book and a long, hard look at the slowly browning lawn in front of their home.
In a perfectly friendly tone, Baldwin has included a page entitled “Good Riddance to Your Lawn”; we should all read this and begin to implement her ideas. Succulents Simplified has inspiring sections like “Surreal Shapes, Testures and Patterns,” and “100 Easy Care Succulents” along with container and landscape projects, but my favorite section is entitled “Edible, Herbal and Illegal Succulents.”
About the Author:
Debra Lee Baldwin specializes in showing how top floral and garden designers use dynamic, sculptural succulents in a wide variety of eye-catching applications. See more of her work at her website: debraleebaldwin.com
Photo Credit: Debra Lee Baldwin and Timber Press (profile)
Hi, Suzi — Thanks for the review! Btw, if anyone is wondering what succulent could possibly be illegal, it’s peyote, a cactus native to the desert Southwest and northern Mexico. — Debra