Succulent Drought Tolerant Plants for Dry Gardens and Easy Houseplants: Crassula Portulacea Spoon Jade aka Gollum Plant or ET Fingers is Easy to Grow
Succulent plants are great choices for dry gardens. These plants are easy to grow in hot dry areas and also make great houseplants. One of my favorites is named crassula portulacea, commonly called Horseshoe or Spoon Jade. Recently they’ve been called Gollum Fingers because their dark green leaves look like fingers with reddish tips. These plants can take full sun to light shade. They are happy indoors or outdoors.
Water-wise succulent plants like heat and sun whether you grow them indoors or in the yard. They can take up to 6 hours of sun a day. If they develop yellow or brown spots on the leaves, it means they need a nice soak. Grown in pots they will remain small and are often used for bonsai. They will grow slowly and can be trimmed into the shape of trees. In the ground they will eventually reach a height of 4 to 5 feet tall. Older plants take on an otherworldly, gnarled look.
I love succulents because they are easy to grow and care- free. They are great if you don't have time to fuss over a plant. Crassula happily oblige and even produce blooms in later winter. They produce flower clusters that look like tiny bouquets of daisies. Bloom color can range from light to dark pink, some have a salmon/orange tint.
These flowering shrubs are called succulent plants because they store their water in their trunks, stalks and leaves. This allows them to get by with little water. All that stored water can make them susceptible to rot if they sit in a pool of wet dirt. Let the soil dry out between watering to keep them happy. Crassula are best grown in USDA Zones 9b – 11. Normally, mine are able to take a light frost for a few hours. This year we had freezing nights for a few days in a row and the top 1/3 of my plants became frozen and brown. The stalks that survived are now sprouting new leafs. They need overhead protection in winter if you are in a cold area. They also have a better chance of surviving frost if the plants have been kept on the dry side.
Xeriscaping with drought tolerant cactus and succulent plants has become popular out here in the southwest where we sometimes have water rationing and shortages. I’ve got a little corner of the garden which I’d like to look like an underwater grotto. That's a tall order here in Los Angeles we don’t get a lot of rain, so I’m planting it with succulents. I think Neptune would be proud. Visit my website at http://www.theGardenPages.com to see photos. These succulent plants add a dramatic touch and remind me of some sort of sea plant or coral. Spoon Jade, or Crassula portulacea plants are a unique, easy and reliable addition to any water-wise garden.
