Succulents, both old and new, have been something of a fad for quite a while now. There are certainly many reasons for them to be popular. They add bold form, texture and color to the garden. Most adapt excellently to container gardening. Many types are resistant to pathogens. Succulents are generally easy to maintain and equally as easy to propagate.
However, one of the primary premises of the increased popularity of succulents is simply untrue. Contrary to popular belief, not all succulents are drought tolerant. Only those that are naturally endemic to desert or chaparral climates can survive with minimal irrigation. They neither expect nor require any more moisture than the rain that falls through winter.
Many succulents are naturally endemic to climates that are not arid. Some are even from tropical rain forests. Such succulents rely on watering to compensate for the local lack of rain through the long and warm summers. Furthermore, many succulents from chaparral and desert climates also want water if their undispersed roots are confined to containers.
Many popular succulents are cacti. They lack foliage, and are instead armed with spines and thorns. (Spines are modified leaves. Thorns are modified stems.) Their fat succulent stems are green to compensate for their lack of foliage, by conducting all photosynthesis. Generally, most cacti actually are tolerant of drought, although less so within containers.
However, many of the most popular and trendy succulents have succulent leaves as well as succulent stems. Some obscure their stout stems within densely set foliage. Although some are chaparral plants that are somewhat drought tolerant, many require watering for adequate hydration. Even Epiphyllum, which are tropical cacti, require regular watering.
Furthermore, many of the succulents that can survive through dry summers without water take drastic measures to do. Various species of Aeonium and Echeveria let much of their older foliage shrivel to conserve moisture for the younger foliage. Echeveria retain much of their shabby dry foliage as insulation. So many of the succulents that have potential to survive without watering are happier with it.
Much of California is chaparral. Much of what is not chaparral is full blown desert. Some coastal climates gets quite a bit of rain; and some climates up in the Sierra Nevada are among the snowiest places in America. Generally though, the most populous and most agriculturally productive parts of California do not get much water to spare.
Aside from all the seasonal raking and dormant pruning, there is not as much to do in the garden as there was earlier in the year. Lawns do not need much mowing. Hedges do not need much shearing. Untimely mowing and shearing can actually damage lawns and hedges. Watering, which was so important while the weather was warm, is now rare in the cool weather between rain.
For those who do not remember ancient history, this wet stuff that fell from the sky recently is known as “rain”. It used to be more common, particularly through winter. It has an unfortunate way of getting everything exposed to it quite wet. It makes soil muddy. Yet, rain has many attributes. It is composed of water, so provides much of what irrigation systems have provided for so long in the absence of rain.
Tony Tomeo 