Stylish Succulents

July 23, 2018
The floral arrangements presented in the alluring guide to growing succulents in small containers are both idiosyncratic and striking. The authors, a married couple who work together as interior designers in Tokyo, offer less a gardening book and more a manual illustrating arrangements that can be copied or used as inspiration. For each project there’s a list of plants used followed by basic planting and growing tips. The guide is light on instruction in styling techniques, and information about various plants is likewise scant, covered in a short chapter on living with succulents. The sophisticated designs draw on a variety of textures—such as the long, dangly string of pearl plant; leafy little missy; and spikes of the silver pet plant, particularly for the hanging plants. These distinctive plantings are not for novices, but they will beckon to those who find ikebana and bonsai appealing, and to the cactus-loving crowd. Color photos.

August 1, 2018

Plants sculpted in leaf and stalk, succulents show off their environment beautifully. Singly and in groups, they can appear mundane or exotic, even extraterrestrial. An escheveria can elevate a simple cup to the perfect complement for its color and shape. These qualities speak to the work of the Kondos, a husband-wife author team collectively known as Tokiiro. Here, the Japanese art of ikebana influences the designs and plantings, as Tokiiro creates totalities of plant, container, and surrounding space. The small indoor projects range from the single container and plant to multiplant arrangements that grow vertically as well as horizontally. Descriptions of the completed projects are haiku-like in their poetic economy. In addition to the plants used, every project includes "planting and growing tips." The final chapter discusses the needs of succulents in general and care of specific types. A more complete treatment of succulent projects for indoors can be found in Cassidy Tuttle's Succulents. VERDICT Gardeners will find simple to challenging projects designed with a Japanese aesthetic in this artistically presented work.--Jeanette McVeigh, Univ. of the Sciences, Philadelphia

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