I’m on a greenery kick—both outdoors and indoors—so here’s the story of four inexpensive succulents I impulsively bought at Home Depot and then planted in an unconventional way.
The two smaller succulents were $2.98 each, and the two medium ones were $3.98 apiece. I also rescued a red cactus that’s been with me since middle school and high school—seriously, that thing survived everything. I included it for nostalgia.
I started searching for planters—baskets, old boxes, anything. I loved how Anthropologie uses wooden boxes with pebbles around succulents; it looks so chic. But I came up empty on boxes and didn’t have any decorative white pebbles, and then I noticed a few old glass vases tucked away in my cabinet.
Planting them in transparent containers seemed a little odd, but I like odd. I worried at first about drainage, but I remembered my red cactus had thrived for years in a ceramic pot with no drainage holes, and many of our Ikea pots don’t have drainage either. So I decided to try it. The plants did need more soil, though.
Armed with a spoon, I scooped extra dirt from outside into the clear vases. The result: I think they look great. The dark brown soil provides a striking contrast with the green hues of the succulents.
Mulching a garden gives a neat finish, and in the same way I like the clean, grounded look the soil creates inside the glass. Much of my home decor is white, and most of my plant pots are white too, so the darker soil offers a nice visual contrast—almost rebellious against the predominantly light palette.
Right now two of the succulents sit on the hall bathroom counter, where the white surface makes their colors pop. The red cactus is perched on the white fireplace mantel in the kitchen—he’s become my favorite for sentimental reasons. I’ll take photos of them in their new spots soon, although plants and pillows tend to migrate around here, so their locations might change next week.
Have you ever planted something in an unconventional container? Or had a hardy plant—like a red cactus—that refused to die even when you forgot to water it for months?