It’s February and one of the few plants in bloom is this Kalanchoe succulent. It’s also called the Paddle Plant with it’s large thick succulent leaves.

This plant was grown as part of my mom’s succulent plant garden. The plant had some freezing nights to deal with, but mom made sure to cover them up on those nights.

From Wikipedia: “Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots.

Many succulents come from the dry areas of the tropics and subtropics, such as steppes, semi-desert, and desert. High temperatures and low precipitation force plants to collect and store water to survive long dry periods.”

The last time I saw these plants in bloom were from my plant. Mine was a cutting from this same plant a few years back. And the flower still didn’t look quite as bright and beautiful as this one. The color here is just much more red than my plant. It must be getting prime sunshine and great potting soil. Or maybe mom just has a green thumb.

Some of my succulent plants from my collection. The small Aloe Vera variety with white freckles were taken from a friend’s garden. They don’t seem to get any bigger but do have many little “pups” (the baby plants). I repotted them this weekend, but ran out of potting soil first. I am bringing one indoor and seeing if it will grow with minimal sunshine.

Aloe Vera plants are great since they don’t require much water (especially in the winter).  And they are consider to be evergreen perennial succulents.  But I’m not sure how well they will grow in other parts of the U.S. with longer winter.  But here in northern California it is growing fine.

Another thing that’s great about Aloe Vera is the gel inside can be used to soothe sunburns and also to help heal cuts.  I also like using the gel in my handmade soap.  But the variety I use is not pictured here.  I get the big ones from my mother’s garden.  They are heavy and plump with gel in the summer months.

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