Easy Succulent garden- plated, potted, portable and colorful

I love a succulent garden for the home. It is perfect for those who tend to forget that they have plants because they need very little water, just a warm spot and sun. Succulents are not for those who love to tend and nurture the garden. I over watered over loved a little garden a few winters ago.

But I am back to try again and it was all inspired by a trip to the local garden center where they had Aloe Vera plants on sale.

Here are my top 5 tips for making your indoor succulent garden. It's your easy planting guide.

1. Planting guide- Since succulents can be planted close together, they have an instant "full planter" look and should happily live that way for a while.

2. Soil- All you need is some potting soil that lets the plants drain well, something with sand in it is a good choice.

3. Planter Type- Remember that these plants tend to be top heavy because the soil is typically on the dry side and lighter in weight. So, a ceramic planter like the one used here is a good option.

4. Plants- go for color and pattern to give contrast to your garden. Or as my friends at Southern Living magazine say, the thriller, spiller and filler plantings guide- something that dynamic, something that drapes over the edge of the planter, and something(s) that fills in between the two.

5. Love- love the way they look in the pot, love how cool the colors are, love the way the sunlight makes them more vibrant- just don't love them with water! When the top inch of soil is dry, give them a deep drink and then love them in other ways. If you over water, they get wrinkly and die. 

Isn't it perfectly formed! But it needed friends for the full pot experience. Enter an Echeveria, a fuzzy Kalanchoe, and a Graptoveria.

A Neon Breaker Echeveria, with this luscious neon pink and slightly ruffled edge to the leaves.

The fuzzy Kalanchoe is called Panda Plant and when treated right will have these dark fuzzy edges!

Graptoveria offers that dusty coloring with a hint of purple- which is how I remember the name- Grape- toveria.

So, they will live together in a lovely oval planter. The spiky aloe in the back the graptoveria has a draping habit, so it's on the side. The panda plant and the neon breaker echeveria are the "feature" plants. 

All the parts ready to be put together!

Planted and filled in with extra dirt.

The fine soil gets everywhere and need to be cleaned off the leaves or they could rot. 

I used a soft "chip" brush to clean the soil off everything, then and the smooth pebbles to finish the plantings and to give a polished look to the planter.

Remember bringing plants indoors helps keep the air in your home cleaner by the natural "breathing" of the plant. It also gives you a view of nature that relaxes the mind!