Wondering how to use succulents in floral arrangements successfully? Succulents offer interesting texture and a great range of colors, but their short little stems need some love before they can be used. In the video below, I’ll show you how to elongate their stems so you can use them in bouquets, arrangements, and even arbors if you’d like.

Start by clipping as long of a stem as possible at the base of the succulent, and removing any lower petals/leaves that might get in your way. Wrap the top of a low-gage wire or wooden skewer in stem tape, and align it with the stem of your succulent until the end of the skewer is flush with the base of the plant. Use a length of stem tape to firmly wrap the stem and skewer together. Clip the end of the wire or skewer and insert into your design!

Alternatively, for succulents that are really large, you can align your skewer with the base of the succulent as before, except press it up into the base a tad to poke a shallow hole into the plant. Then extract the skewer, put a dab of Oasis wet glue on the end, and let it get a bit tacky (this takes about 10 seconds). Next, insert it back into the hole and tape down the length of the stem/wire as before. This will give added security to a heavy-headed piece!

Key Points:

1. Clean around the base of the succulent so it’s easy to align a skewer or wire against it.

2. Tightly wrap the skewer against the stem to ensure a firm hold.

3. Use a dab of wet glue on the end of your skewer and insert it slightly into the base of your succulent to make sure especially large ones stay put.