Essential Succulents: The Beginner's Guide

This is definitely a beginner's book. I am new to succulents and wanted to identify the succulents I have in my collection. This book covers 50 succulent varieties and identifies them by their common names, then gives their Latin names. There is good information on how to propagate succulents and designing simple succulent compositions in containers. I have won ribbons at the County Fairs for succulent arrangements. I emailed the author, Ken Shelf with a question, and he responded in general terms. I have another succulent book, Growing Succulents, that is more advanced and only identifies them by their Latin names.

Someone gave this book to us as a gift with a dish garden of succulents. Each page has a lovely photo of the succulent described. The descriptions are informative, giving enough (but not too much) information for us to take better care of our plants. I loved this part of the introduction: "Succulents have a drinking problem..." 😀 What follows is clear information about how succulents thrive with the right amount of water/moisture. I ordered this copy for our daughter, who (even as a master gardener) found it to be a great read and a good resource.

Good pictures and information. Helped me to learn more about taking care of my succulents. Liked the layout of the chapters and how the information was presented.

Last fall I purchased a couple succulent arrangements at Trader Joe's on a whim. I could never keep plants alive before, and was determined to keep these alive. Well, they started showing issues after a few weeks... and when the internet couldn't diagnose the issue, I grabbed this book. This guide is a great starting point for any succulent novice – all the BASIC information is in one place. No need to try every which way to google for your issues (what's with succulent care sites having awful search engine optimization??) and hope you've got the right answer. Turns out my issue was all water – I never replanted my succulents into the appropriate soil, so they were having issues with retaining way too much water even though I was very sparing with when I watered. This book gave me the confidence to expand from my two original arrangements to now having an office window filled with succulents – and a tray of almost 100 succulent leaves that I'm trying to propagate. However, it really is just the basic information. I still find myself returning to the internet if I want more info. The author's own website greatly expands on the book – but isn't the easiest to navigate from start to finish.

Wow. Everything you could ever wanna know about succulents. Each page gives text and a full color picture of the plant. This is essential for anyone starting with succulents or wanting to increase their knowledge of these beautiful plants. Very highly recommend.

This is an excellent book on succulents. It has lots of beautiful photographs identifying different types of succulents (I didn’t know there were so many!) and their care and propagation. A bonus is several decorative ideas. Highly recommended!

It was a fairly good book. It didn't give information on any plants whether they are pet friendly or no. That would have been very helpful to pet owners. It did give some good info on some plants.

This book is well written, ease for beginners to grasp with images that are relevant. The acquired love for succulent indoor gardening never was imagined would been until my adult daughter asked to watch over her indoor gardening of a variety of cacti and succulents while travelling for business. I became attached quickly to these darlings and humbled by how little I knew and perplexed to her insistence to her watering regimen. I bought this book to understand and since use it myself many times new to buying my own few cacti and plants. She arrived seeing this display beautiful covered book and my greatitude for inspiring this little hobby admittedly, green thumb failure I have been known! Having this book and opportunities to regain confidence because of it has given ambiance of live plants with my nitche of an art for silk arrangement making decor . She actually is far more experienced and desired owning the same book!!

This book is very atttractively set out, beautifully illustrated and full of information, especially for a first time owner of succulents. I was given three succulents recently - I have never had any before so this book has been very useful from the start and is going to be very helpful in the future.

Love this book. Has helped me lots. I am new to succulents and this book has helped me out alot.

Livro bem colorido, com muitas informações importantes, incluindo identificação de algumas suculentas. Só deveria ter a opção de traduzir para português na versão e-book 😉.

Molt bona compra!!. Ben enquadernat i les fotos de les principals suculentes molt nítides i boniques.

Es un libro idóneo para quien quiere comenzar su colección de plantas suculentas. Información útil y clara. Idioma inglés.