Richard Felt: Kitchen Succulents

Disclosure: Although this sponsored post was written in partnership with JELD-WEN, all opinions (rambling or otherwise!) are my own.

In yet another celebration of Things I’ve Kept Alive, I bring you new kitchen succulents:

At first, I wasn’t really sure that this little update really warranted a post. I’ve shared some of my other plant projects before, and while I really admired how these little guys brightened up the kitchen window, I kept thinking: We get it. Plants are green.

But then someone asks you a seemingly inconsequential question like, “What’s your favorite view in the house?” and you realize that even though it’s simple, it’s actually the best example of all the things you’ve spent all of this time working toward. The tile, the paint, the tools, the molding… it all adds up. And then one day, you find that you’re just taking pictures of your window (again) because you are still loving the view.

And for me, that’s kind of the point. I’ve always been a big believer in the small things adding up. The steps it took to get through grad school (if ever there were a time for only looking at the next step in front of me to keep from drowning, it was then). The simple greetings you send to your friends to let them know you were thinking about them. The practice of kindness, smiling at people, and saying thank you. It’s all little. But it adds up.

Hell, I probably wouldn’t have much of a blog if I didn’t share the little steps of progress along the way. And in this house, the view certainly has changed. There was the view of Charlie’s little (horrifying) adventure out onto my second story roof…

Coaxing her back through the bedroom window was pretty terrifying (but apparently, also hilarious enough to grab the camera and document it). There was also the view from my kitchen’s sliding door when I began the saga of taking all of the ivy out (and learning how not to stand under it so as to avoid dumping plant debris and bugs down my shirt)…

There was when Charlie figured out that snow is cold…

And there was also the view from office when I took out all of the trees from the back yard (a very exciting day!)…

And then eventually, things became a little calmer in certain places and I could finally see it all gelling (and yet, still more Charlie!).

Right now, JELD-WEN is having a giveaway that taps into this same exact feeling. To enter, you just take a quick snap of your “great view” from your JELD-WEN window or door and post to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #JWGreatViews. Winners will win a $50 Amex gift card (which will certainly buy you the supplies you’d need to make some of these potted succulents yourself!).

And of course, the tutorial! For those that are wondering how to plant a large variety of succulents like these, here’s what wound up working for me and a few tips:

1. First, you’ll want to find containers that are preferably wide and shallow. Succulents like drainage (a lot). Also, if you’re putting these indoors, get yourself JUST the green ones; while there are other color varieties (like purple and yellow), I’ve read that they don’t do nearly as well inside the house. There are a lot of different green versions though, so you can still get quite a bit of color in the same pot.

2. Next, fill the bottom of the container with decorative rocks (I had one container that was opaque and one glass, so I sorted through a big bag of mixed rocks; the uglier ones went into the bottom of the container you can’t see through). You’ll notice that I was putting this together outside on one of my old outdoor chairs (for good reason).

3. Because next, you’re going to fill it with cactus dirt…

4. Finally, plant your succulents and cover the dirt with more decorative rocks. I added some succulent fertilizer, but held off on watering until about a week after (it gives the succulents’s roots time to heal a little and avoid becoming water-logged).

Succulents, or so I’ve read, prefer lots of bright indirect light… which is exactly the kind of thing my house lacks a lot of. So given the limited options, I thought I’d see how they fared on the kitchen’s windowsill. The containers are a bit wider than the width of the sill, so I am leaving there for now just to see if they survive.