Echeveria is probably the genus most people picture when they hear the word “succulent” — those tidy, symmetrical rosettes that show up on every plant shop shelf and gardening Pinterest board. Which is exactly why it surprises people to learn that within this same common, beginner-friendly genus, there are varieties so rare that serious collectors … Read more
I get some version of the same question fairly often from people just getting into Haworthias: “I bought this online and the listing said Cooperi, but someone in a plant group told me it’s actually Obtusa — how do I know who’s right?” Honestly, it’s one of the most common points of confusion in the … Read more
Somewhere around the third or fourth succulent auction I browsed as a beginner, I noticed something strange. Plants that looked, at least to my untrained eye, almost identical to ones selling for a few dollars were listed at ten or twenty times the price, with sellers using words like “stable variegation” and “high contrast” in … Read more
The first time most people encounter a Lithops, they don’t realize they’re looking at a plant at all. It happened to me at a small nursery years ago — a tray of what looked like an odd assortment of speckled pebbles sitting next to the cacti, priced individually, which seemed strange until the owner picked … Read more
There’s a particular kind of quiet obsession that comes with collecting succulents. It usually starts small — a single Echeveria on a windowsill, maybe a gift from a friend who “just thought it looked nice.” Then one plant becomes three, three becomes a shelf, and before long you’re scrolling through late-night auction listings trying to … Read more