Lower-Light Succulents

Sansevierias

• Native to Africa, sansevierias (Sansevieria spp. and cultivars) are grown for their long-lasting foliage, usually dark green but also banded, striped and variegated. Members of the agave family, sansevierias comprise around 60 species. Most commonly grown is snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata), also called mother-in-law's tongue. The sword-shaped leaves grow from 3 to 5 feet tall, forming clumps, but other shapes and sizes of cultivars are available. Birdsnest sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata "Hahnii") has short, broad, reflexed dark green leaves that form a vase shape. Silver birdsnest (Sansevieria trifasciata "Silver Hahnii") has silvery gray-green leaves with green bands, and golden birdsnest (Sansevieria trifasciata "Golden Hahnii") displays green leaves bordered and striped with gold. White sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata "Bantel's Sensation") has leaves with a varying pattern of alternate white and green stripes. Hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 to 11, sansevierias are nearly indestructible indoor foliage plants, able to succeed in low-light and low-water situations.

Haworthias

• These are smaller-scale plants suitable for combining in dish gardens or grouping in individual pots on a table top. The leaves are thick and fleshy, forming a basal rosette. Many shades of green occur in the almost 60 species of Haworthia, from almost black to pale yellow-green. Native to Africa, these aloe family members have interesting leaf shapes and color patterns. Some kinds are called window plants (Haworthia truncata) because of the translucent skin at leaf tips that let light into the interior of the leaf. Zebra plants (Haworthia attenuata and Haworthia fasciata) have raised white bands striping the undersides. Haworthia coarcta has columnar stems with white-dotted leaves. Haworthias are hardy in USDA zone 11 and need well-draining potting mix. White tubular flowers appear on wiry stems in spring.

Gasterias

• Also from Africa and related to aloes, ox-tongue (Gasteria spp.) has 23 species. Leaves are thick, strap-shaped, and stacked one on top of the other. Many have leaves covered with whitish bumps, but others have smooth skin. The skin is hard, helping to conserve stored water. In spring long flower stalks produce red and green flowers with an enlarged stomach-like bulge at the bottom. Hummingbirds visit the flowers when ox-tongue is grown as a landscaping plant, thriving in USDA zones 9 through 11. Plant size varies from small 3-inch species to ones over 10 inches wide. Most species form clumps.

Hanging Basket Plants

• Two succulents that do well in north-facing windows with bright light but no direct sun are watch chain (Crassula lycopodiodes) and string of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus). Watch chain is in the crassula family, and has somewhat stiff slightly woody branches covered with fine scale-like leaves, resembling a green heavy Victorian pocket watch chain. The tips have erect growth for the last 1 inch. String of pearls belongs to the daisy family, with little white flowers in the spring that resemble small dandelion heads. Round light green succulent leaves are spaced along slender flexible pendulous stems. Both these plants grow in USDA zones 9 through 11.