Bouquet of Succulent "Roses"

A couple of weekends ago I saved an overgrown, straggling looking rosette succulent. This plant is very easy to take care of and its year round beauty is priceless to have in an apartment garden so I knew I had to find some way to re-use this plant in my landscape. I wish I had taken a photo of this massive succulent before I trimmed it down so you could see the "before" and "after" pictures, but I guess I was just too anxious to get started.

I was really attracted to the huge, rosette blooms and thought they would make a gorgeous bouquet. I chose standard terra cotta pots because I noticed how the terra cotta really complemented the red on the rim of the "petals." I took a sharp knife and carefully took 6" to 8" cuttings from the rosette plant. Each cutting had a single rosette on a 6" to 8" stem. By the time I trimmed down this plant, I had enough cuttings to make two very full bouquets and some extra to work in between the rocks surrounding the pond.

I filled the pots 3/4 the way with regular garden soil. Then I started to insert the stems into the soil (working from the perimeter to the center) to resemble a rose bouquet. I used a small garden spatula to work in some extra soil in between the stems. Then I watered the plants well. I only water the plants again when the top of the soil is dry. If you keep the soil too wet, you can cause the stem to rot.

I have successfully propagated this plant using this method, but if you wish to take the safer route, allow a "scab" to develop over the end of the stem by allowing the cutting to dry out a bit, then dip the cutting in some Rooting Hormone before planting them in the dirt.