Here is a little video I created of my fist attempt at a living succulent wreath.
Now Kaye is the one who puts her artistic skills to work here at Fickle Prickles to create all the wonderful living wreaths that we sell online and at the festivals we attend. So the other day when I was sitting in front of the computer, writing up instructions for our succulent wreath kits, I thought to myself 'I need to get a true idea of how this is done... I should make my own!'
I was a little bit hesitant filming the process, as I was so sure it was going to turn out a big gobbelty-goopy mess. However, with Kaye pointing me in the direction of what plants and cuttings to use, I'm quite happy with how it turned out!
I hope this shows just how easy it is to put one together. The wonderful thing about using fishing line is that it's invisible - so you can use quite a lot of it without ruining the aesthetics of the whole thing.
I hope this shows just how easy it is to put one together. The wonderful thing about using fishing line is that it's invisible - so you can use quite a lot of it without ruining the aesthetics of the whole thing.
The wreath in the video was created with a small frame - about 20cm in diameter - But we do sell larger frames in our store. Larger ones will need more succulents to fill it out (obviously). This small one took 6 succulents in 50mm pots (3 rosette types and 3 fillers), and then we used a handful of cuttings to fill the wreath out.
The succulent species I used in the wreath are:
Echeveria 'Domingo'
Sempervivum 'Weirdo'
Echeveria 'Dondo'
Sedum acre aureum
Crassula marginalis var. minuta variegata
Sedum 'Gold Mound'
Crassula species
Crassula ovata var. undulata
Aeonium haworthii
Sedeveria 'Starburst' and
Something purple (possibly a sedeveria)
Two weeks on and the cuttings haven't quite established enough for me to hang it up vertically yet. A couple more weeks should do it.
As it has been quite warm lately, I have been watering it once a day, thoroughly with a hose. I would advise against simply misting it, as the moss dries out rather quickly. Dry moss doesn't look as appealing in my opinion, and the added moisture retained in the moss from watering it with a hose will help the succulents grow and thrive for several months to come. No need to worry about the succulents rotting, as the moss doesn't stay sopping wet for very long.
Creating a wreath in this way means that it wont just be a temporary display, but something that can live and thrive for several months to come. Other maintenance tips I can suggest would include not leaving the wreath out in the full sun, applying a seaweed solution to give the plants a kick start, and pruning often to keep nice and compact.
I think instead of hanging this wreath vertically, I am going to buy a red plate to rest it on, and put a large white or gold candle in the middle and place it on our family's Christmas table.
