HOLIDAY CRAFTS : Round Out Living Wreath With a Ring of Succulents

Deck the halls with snips of ‘Brown Bean’ Sedum , ‘Zwartkop’ Aeonium and ‘Red Apple’ Aptenia . Succulents are harder to include in song lyrics than boughs of holly, for sure. But in all other respects they make far superior holiday decorations.

Take their color. The sage greens, silvery grays and bronzy reds of succulent foliage echo the California natural landscape much more accurately than the dark forest green of Eastern holly. And that’s convenient. Because succulent cuttings inserted into wire forms stuffed with moist sphagnum moss root readily, creating living wreaths. So there’s no reason to consign them to a landfill after the holidays; just move them outdoors and let them festoon your garden or patio.

Nancy Snyder of Laguna Beach still has, hanging on her garden gate, a succulent wreath she made four years ago.

“When individual pieces get too leggy, I cut them back and insert the cuttings anywhere there are empty spaces in the wreath,” she says. “Or, if there aren’t any, I stick them in pots.

“You can build up a good supply of succulents for future wreaths quite quickly that way.”

Succulent wreaths are easy to take care of (“I just take the hose to mine occasionally,” Snyder says) and fun to make.

“Some people’s wreaths are made up mostly of large rosettes in a close range of colors, and they look very Della Robbia,” she says, “while others create a crazy quilt of textures and colors. There’s really no way to go wrong. That’s what’s nice about them.”

Snyder learned to make the wreaths from Wade Roberts, director of Sherman Gardens in Corona del Mar.

The hardest thing about making succulent wreaths, Roberts says, is finding the succulents.

“The more varieties you have, the more interesting the wreath,” he says. “But you can make a very nice wreath out of just a few kinds of cuttings.”

Start with jade plant (Crassula argentea) , he suggests. You probably won’t have to leave your block to find someone who is growing it and quite willing to share some cuttings. Jade plant grows very fast.

Find a Crassula argentea growing in full sun and another growing in shade, and you’ll already have two tones of foliage. Jade plants in the shade are the color the name suggests; those grown in the sun have bronze leaves with red tips. Find some of each that are about to flower--easy this time of year--and add another level of interest.

Then see what else you might be able to “borrow.”

“You’ll be surprised how much is out there,” Snyder says, “and how willing people are to share it with you if you ask. It’s a great way to meet your neighbors.”

If you live in a succulent-free zone or prefer not to borrow from your neighbors, look for succulents at a local nursery that are sold by the flat to use as your foundation foliage. Sedum guatemalense (‘Brown Bean’) or ‘Red Apple’ Aptenia (a form of ice plant) are two that are readily available.

Then select a few larger succulents with striking forms and/or colors for dramatic interest. Echeverias, whose icy shades and sculptured ruffles make them look like lunar roses, are particularly nice. You’ll find them, along with other choices, in the cactus section of your nursery.

“Keep these succulents in their pots and let them grow back after you’ve taken off cuttings, and pick up a few more varieties next year, and your wreath stock will keep improving,” Roberts says.

Other tips:

* Aim for a variety of foliage colors. Start with some basic greens, then add bronzes, grays and blue-greens.

* Insert some pieces flush with the wreath but allow others to drape a bit. Let your eye be the judge.

* Use floral picks to insert softer-stemmed cuttings. Cushion the stem with a small piece of moss and then tie it to a floral pick. (Floral picks come with wire already attached.) Clip off the pick, flush with the wreath in back, just as you would a woody stem.

* Don’t waste small pieces. “A small sprig of gray tucked here and there among greener foliage looks interesting,” Roberts says.

Following are instructions for creating a living succulent wreath as described by Wade Roberts: Materials and Costs

* One 10- or 12-inch floral ring--a two-part wire form that will provide the foundation for the wreath. Available at floral supply and craft shops (about $2)

* A short length of flexible steel wire (about 22 gauge) to bind the two pieces of the floral ring together.

* One small bag of sphagnum moss (about $5)

* Two to three dozen floral wood picks to attach the cuttings (about $2)

* A pencil or screwdriver for punching holes in the moss

* A small pair of clippers

* Aluminum foil or heavy plastic for protective backing

* A variety of stemmed succulent cuttings. Collect from friends and neighbors or purchase. (One flat of ‘Brown Bean’ Sedum is about $13; individual succulents to use as accents, about $5 each)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Take handfuls of pre-moistened sphagnum moss and stuff them tightly into one half of a floral ring. The idea is to create a doughnut-shaped base dense enough to hold cuttings inserted into it firmly in place.

2. When you have completely filled in the first ring, top it with the second. Test the moss to see if it is springy to the touch. It should bounce back when you press your finger against it, like a cake does when it’s ready to come out of the oven. If the moss doesn’t spring back, it’s not packed tightly enough into the ring. Stuff in more moss as needed.

3. Bind the two wire rings together with short lengths of steel wire at several points at the back of the wreath.

4. Begin inserting succulent cuttings. You may want to start with a dramatic large rosette, such as the nearly black ‘Zwartkop’ Aeonium , that will be a focal point. Decide where you want to place it and punch a hole in the moss at that spot with a pencil or screwdriver. Insert the cutting and pull the stem through from the back. Cut off the stem so that it is flush with the back of the wreath.

5. Continue inserting cuttings, as described above, until the front and sides of the wreath are covered with foliage and no moss or wire show.

6. Cut a piece of thick plastic, like a painter’s drop cloth, the size of the wreath and attach it to the back. Because the wreath needs to remain damp in order for the cuttings to root, this will protect table finishes when the wreath is being used as a centerpiece and painted surfaces when it is hung as a wreath. Heavyweight aluminum foil would also work as a protective barrier.