Species library
The eight we hand to someone starting out — chosen because they survive a normal room, not because they photograph well. Latin name first, plain name second, and the honest difficulty at the end.
Topsy-turvy echeveria
| Origin | Tamaulipas, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun to very bright |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 9b–11 |
| Habit | Rosette, 10–15 cm across, offsets freely |
| Difficulty |
The pale blue rosettes curl upward in strong light, which is the fastest visual feedback any beginner can get. Water the soil, never the crown.
Season Grows spring and autumn; sulks in a hot, still summer.
Zebra haworthia
| Origin | Eastern Cape, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Light | Bright indirect, some morning sun |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 9b–11 |
| Habit | Clumping rosettes, 10–15 cm tall |
| Difficulty |
The most forgiving plant on this list. It tolerates a north-facing sill, dry indoor air and a missed month of watering, and still looks composed.
Season Steady all year; a light dry rest in midwinter sharpens the banding.
Jade plant
| Origin | Eastern Cape, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun, or a south window |
| Water | Low to moderate |
| Hardy | Zones 9–11 |
| Habit | Woody shrub, 60 cm indoors, 2 m in the ground |
| Difficulty |
The one succulent that becomes furniture. Given twenty years and a heavy pot it forms a trunk; the plant in our photograph is nine years old and has been repotted twice.
Season Grows spring to autumn, flowers in winter if kept cool and dry.
Living stones
| Origin | Namibia and South Africa |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun, six hours minimum |
| Water | Very low, strictly seasonal |
| Hardy | Zones 10–11 |
| Habit | Paired leaves, 2–4 cm, buried to the shoulders |
| Difficulty |
Not a beginner plant, and not a houseplant for a dark room. The whole skill is knowing when to stop watering: the plant splits and absorbs its old leaves in spring, and water during that window will rot it.
Season Water in late spring and again in autumn; bone dry through summer and winter.
Panda plant
| Origin | Madagascar |
|---|---|
| Light | Bright light, sun in winter |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 10–11 |
| Habit | Upright stems, 30–60 cm, felted leaves |
| Difficulty |
The felt is a sunshade and a water shield at once. Never wipe it, never mist it, and never let water sit in the leaf axils — that is the only way to lose this plant.
Season Active spring and autumn; keep drier and cooler in winter.
Ghost plant
| Origin | Tamaulipas, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun to bright light |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 9–11 |
| Habit | Trailing rosettes on stems that lengthen with age |
| Difficulty |
Pale, powdery, almost grey. The farina on the leaves is a wax sunscreen: every fingerprint you leave becomes a permanent scar, so handle it by the stem.
Season Grows nearly year-round in mild climates; colours up in cold, bright weather.
Jelly beans
| Origin | Oaxaca, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Light | Full sun |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 9b–11 |
| Habit | Shrubby, 20–30 cm, finger-like leaves |
| Difficulty |
Grows fast enough to be a teaching plant. In full sun the leaf tips flush red; in shade the whole plant stretches and turns an unremarkable green.
Season Spring and autumn growth; summer dormancy in extreme heat.
Mexican snowball
| Origin | Hidalgo, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Light | Bright light, some direct sun |
| Water | Low |
| Hardy | Zones 9b–11 |
| Habit | Tight rosette, 8–10 cm, offsets in rings |
| Difficulty |
The classic pale rosette, and the one most often sold in a glass bowl with no drainage. Give it grit, a hole in the pot and a cool bright windowsill, and it will ring itself with offsets.
Season Autumn and spring growth; pink flowers in late winter.
At a glance
Match the plant to the light you actually have. A north-facing room will grow three of these well and starve the rest.
| Species | Common | Light | Water | Zones | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echeveria runyonii | Topsy-turvy echeveria | Full sun to very bright | Low | 9b–11 | |
| Haworthiopsis attenuata | Zebra haworthia | Bright indirect, some morning sun | Low | 9b–11 | |
| Crassula ovata | Jade plant | Full sun, or a south window | Low to moderate | 9–11 | |
| Lithops | Living stones | Full sun, six hours minimum | Very low, strictly seasonal | 10–11 | |
| Kalanchoe tomentosa | Panda plant | Bright light, sun in winter | Low | 10–11 | |
| Graptopetalum paraguayense | Ghost plant | Full sun to bright light | Low | 9–11 | |
| Sedum pachyphyllum | Jelly beans | Full sun | Low | 9b–11 | |
| Echeveria elegans | Mexican snowball | Bright light, some direct sun | Low | 9b–11 |
Hardiness zones follow USDA; difficulty is our own three-step scale from a Zone 9b bench.