This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Local Succulents Make the Best Valentine's Day Gifts

Roses again this year? You can do better than that—head to the Homeless Garden Project store!

Some 150 people passed through the Homeless Garden Project's retail store Friday evening, for their Valentine's-themed "Sweets and Treats" event. Volunteers, trainees, and curious passers by nibbled on farm-baked lavender brownies and shortbread, and perused photographs by local photographer Sylvia Valentine.

The store, which is open on Valentine's day from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., is brimming with well-crafted, Santa Cruz-made goods like an exfoliating "gardeners soap," candles, handmade jewelry and mosaics. They even have bouquets of organically grown, freshly cut vegetables consisting of a few leaves of deep green kale, a couple chards, a couple leeks, mustard greens and one deep red beet.

“You get a bunch of these and then you make soup for your love,” suggested volunteer Cynthia Jones. 

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The most heart-warming thing about buying your love a soup-making bouquet, or a potted succulent, is that your money goes to an

"The general idea is that this is a store and we’re selling products but there is so much good and meaning behind the products and the people coming together. People aren’t here just to buy stuff they’re here because they believe in the homeless garden proejct," he said Sean Heitzenrater, a volunteer at the HGP.

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The store is amazing. It’s been transformed,” said Heitzenrater of what Tamara Cucchiara has brought to the HGP's Women's Organic Flower Enterprise (WOFE) since she signed on as manager five months ago.

"When I first started I had found out, like when our holiday store was about to open that week, that we had a huge shortage of flowers. And those are our resources," said Cucchiara of the HGP's profit making commodity.  

"And then I thought 'Oh, why don’t I just implement succulents,' because I love them, and they’re drought friendly," said Cucchiara.

Cucchiara and fellow WOFE volunteer, Dana Morrison, learned how to make succulent wreaths from a certain "succulent Queen" in Moss Landing, and they brought back their knowledge to share with the WOFE trainees. They sold seventy five succulent wreaths over the holidays, and they are proving to be popular year round.

Cucchiara and Morrison have cultivated quite a passion for succulents, and it's contagious. The wall, floor, and every horizontal space in the store is blooming with botanical eye candy: succulents of all sorts of wonderous shapes, sizes, and colors. 

A succulent alone in a pot is beautiful enough, but seeing them constructed into wreaths, and spilling out of martini glasses, colanders, wire bicycles and pots of all shapes and sizes is what turns them into really unique gifts.

Roses will lose their petals in a few days and be a distant memory by next month, but succulents will last a long time with just a little bit of love and care. Plus, they are local.

"I said, 'I don't want to do roses because they're not local'," said Cucchiara of the fleet of Valentine's Day succulents. Morrison had similar sentiments.

“We’re not really growing roses in California anymore. We’re getting them from Chile and Columbia,” Morrison said, as she looked over the store front which she had finished planting just in time for the Valentine's bash— the storefront planters hadn't been replanted since it was Lighthouse Liquor many years ago.

“I pulled it all up and planted succulents, which seemed appropriate,” said Morrison.

Also appropriate for Valentine's day is the exhibiting photographer: Sylvia Valentine. 

Valentine's photos have a botanical theme and feature vibrant pops of color and lots of macro shots. They are modestly priced in black or white matting, and range in size from just a couple inches to large wall pieces. 

“A lot of stuff is in my own backyard,” said Valentine. “My process is that I always have me camera with me.”  

Valentine's photographs make the perfect supplement to a succulent or homemade soap for your sweetheart. If you do purchase a succulent for your love, make sure not to over-water it or leave it outisde overnight when it gets cold—succulents hate being cold and wet. 

"It isn't a cactus—that’s the biggest mistake people make,” said Morrison. "They are low maintenance, not no-maintenance." 

At the same time, succulents are extremely versatile when it comes to taking cuttings and replanting. For readers who have made it this far, here is a really cool secret:

"It's good to know that they're actually pretty easy to plant yourself. I actually went around town once, collecting cuttings here and there from people's gardens, and after two or three weeks they develope scabs and you can plant them," said Kate Malmgren, a past-volunteer who happened to be pedaling by the store Friday evening when she saw the festivities.

Malmgren recommends hitting the flea market and thrift stores for pots and planters, and you'll have a very low cost succulent garden well on it's way.

The Homeless Garden Project retail store is at 30 West Cliff Drive, at Depot Park. Call 831-426-3609 for more information. They are open today (Monday) from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., and from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Valentine's Day.

WOFE is planning on setting up some succulent workshops in the coming months, so stay tuned for updates on how to work with succulents!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?