A Succulent Oasis in My Office

We shuffled all of the remaining houseplants inside last Friday just before the hard frost returned. And so began the arduous process of stuffing potted plants into windows and underneath lights in preparation for a long winter indoors.

This year I decided to go for an all succulent mix in my office window, which wasn’t difficult given how many I have. I haven’t counted, but my best guess is TOO MANY. I usually put most of the agave into this prime spot where I can see them at a glance from my desk chair all winter long. However, this year I decided to mix things up a bit and have instead situated my new collection of unusual opuntia within reach.


A few of my tender paddle cactus (opuntia).

Chances are good that a few of the smaller plants will end up in the basement should the windowsill get too cold and draughty come mid-winter. I also plan to move this year’s Offfice Tomato Experiment 2012/13 once it gets too cold in the unheated front porch “greenhouse.”


Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (the chartreuse plant) self-seeded underneath the Aloe plicatilis while it was outside for the summer.


Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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2 thoughts on “A Succulent Oasis in My Office

  1. I am going cold turkey on succulents at the moment and those gorgeous photos are making me twitch! After our entire internal display went viral with mealybugs and we had to wash their roots clean and repot them all outside…the ducks decided that succulents were their absolutely positively most favourite foods and ate the lot :(. No more succulents for me…(but I can mainline these delicious photos so am saving them for posterity :) )

  2. Absolutely stunning! I love the ‘Sticks on Fire’ Euphorbia. I have very recently become obsessed with succulents and just started my collection. Have you grown much from seed? If so, how did it go?

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