In the past few years, home design maven Martha Stewart helped boost sales after her magazine, Martha Stewart Living , touted the plants. In one issue, for example, the editors suggested using small succulents as party favors. Until 1991, succulent and cactus fanciers in Massachusetts who wanted to join a group turned to the Connecticut chapter of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. The largest in the region, the group organizes the only major cactus and succulent show in New England, an event held every April in Waterbury. Nine years ago, collectors in Massachusetts decided it was time to form their own chapter, which now has about 75 members.
Cactuses are one type of succulent plants, although they are usually referred to separately.
There are thousands of different kinds of cactuses and succulents. Most grow in warm, arid climates, and many produce brilliantly colored flowers. South African natives such as Tylecodon and Pachypodium varieties bloom during the northern winter season, which makes them popular with collectors. Some cactuses are hardy enough to survive the Boston-area climate, including the Cactaceae escobaria , C. triglochidiatu s, and C. vivipara , as well as Opuntia fragilis , the prickly pear cactus often seen in garden centers. Cactuses that are native to North and South America bloom in the spring and summer.