A renewed interest in succulent plants has inspired articles in some of the most popular gardening and home décor magazines.

Succulent wreaths created by Toni Stanchfield were used to decorate doorways at First Presbyterian Church for the recent River Road District meeting of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi. They were a hit and, said Stanchfield, relatively easy to make.

“I was inspired to try this project while looking through a gardening magazine that featured Margee Rader, a California-based artist who uses succulent plants as her palette and iron structures as her canvas,” Stanchfield said.

Succulents easily adapt to this type of application. They are inexpensive, drought- and frost-tolerant, need very little fertilizing, have sculptural qualities and come in a variety of colors and sizes.

“Just about any metal form will work as a base, from topiary forms to a reclaimed garden chair — anything that will support the weighty succulents,” Stanchfield said. For her creations, she used several iron forms — garden art designed to hang on a wall or fence — that she purchased at a hobby store. She then packed each with sphagnum moss that had been soaking in water for an hour or more. She created a circular form with sides coming up from the back of the metal form. A shallow layer of potting mix went on next, then more wet sphagnum moss. She wound small gauge galvanized wire around the entire frame to secure the thick layer of moss tightly to the round iron base.

Several days prior to assembling the wreaths, Stanchfield divided several succulent plants into small stem cuttings. She left them sitting on her work table for two to three days so they would form callouses on the root ends of each cutting. This procedure is necessary to prevent the ends from rotting when they are stuck into the wreath frame according to Stanchfield.

“Then comes the creative part,” she said. “Place your cuttings, one by one, using a pair of tweezers to poke a hole into the moistened sphagnum moss; then insert a cutting. Continue until your form is covered in succulents.”

She then leaves the metal form flat for several weeks. She uses the mist setting of her spray nozzle to carefully water the cutting, so as not to dislodge them. They need a lot of light, so Stanchfield keeps the forms in a very bright location with at least four hours of direct sun daily. Some relief from the midday sun is recommended, so morning sun and partial shade in the afternoon is an ideal situation.

She waters the wreaths every other day, and has pinched them back several times since she first assembled them in late March. She replants the pinched pieces into a new form which, at the present time, is a garden chair. Succulents are particular about one thing: they will not tolerate wet feet. They should be misted well, but never allowed to sit in water — or their fleshy stems and leaves will rot.

All the succulents used in this project came from local nurseries. Stanchfield especially likes the growth habit of hens and chicks (Sempervivum tectorum), jade plant (Cassula ovata) and sea star. Goldmoss sedum (Sedum acre), Sedum lydium, S. spathulifolium, S. spurium “Dragon’s Blood,” a purplish-red colored choice, and ice plant (Delosperma nubigerum) are other hardy choices that work well in this type of craft application.

“I’m not an expert gardener, and this project is truly simple if you have a free afternoon,” Stanchfield said. “I love to be inspired by creative projects, and I hope this will inspire others to create living garden art.”

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Miriam Jabour, a Master Gardener and Master Flower Show judge, has been active in the Openwood Plantation Garden Club for over 35 years. Write to her at 1114 Windy Lake Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39183.