Green Thumb - Succulent Garden

It was in the 70s and sunny on Saturday, so I dropped Andrew off with a friend (to clarify, we are talking about my husband—we share a car) and set off to plant a succulent garden. I've been looking for something green to go on our problem fireplace for months now, but I'm not very good a keeping plants alive (fingers crossed for the succulents), so I thought this might be a good way to add a pop of green with little maintenance. Last time we had succulents, Ham got onto the kitchen counter (long story) and ate them out of the windowsill. Thus is life.


You need:

A container with a large opening (Martha says a large opening helps prevent accumulation of moisture.)
Succulents
Cactus, palm and citrus potting soil
Stones

These are pretty simple to plant, although one of my little succulents fell apart. I planted a few pieces of it anyway and am rooting for those tiny ones to take root! They're the three small ones that look alike in the photo below.

I ended up arranging these on top of the fireplace, and while it's not quite there yet I think this is a definite improvement! (Check out part one of my house tour for the mantel's last arrangement.) I have plans to put flowers or branches in that brown vase for height. That cute glass frame was an engagement gift from Nikki at the Fashionable Wife! I still love it.

I won that cute A print (by Arian) a few years ago through a giveaway at This Life of Ours. It's the only giveaway I've ever won, though I did win a pair of boots recently in a Pin It To Win It contest. The boots, however, did not make it onto the mantel.

What to do, what to do about that empty space in the middle? Ideas are welcome. Our fireplace tends to collect clutter, so I put a ceramic flower pot up to hold things like wallets, keys, dog leashes, etc.

Did y'all have nice weather this weekend? If so, did you plant anything? Linking up today with Molly and Carly at #YOLOMONDAYS.