Skip to main content
DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

BUY NOW
Home & Garden

Lula's Garden in a box is my new favorite houseplant

These succulents we ordered definitely don't suck

Lula's Garden succulent plant Credit: Lula's Garden

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

Get a succulent, they said. It’s a no-brainer and easy to take care of, they said.

Not true. While I have been a successful mother to pets, people, and even tricky houseplants (gets up to proudly spritz her orchid), these a-child-can-do-it plants have no chance with me. I’ve even tried the easy aloe and got burned. The reason? I’m a giver. Translation: I overwater them. Who am I to ignore my Italian upbringing of eat, eat, eat?

So, like a girl in a candy store who has sworn off sweets, I stroll through garden centers and gaze longingly at all of those beautiful succulents. The gentle sage greens, the sunset oranges, the cheerful yellows—each one is an escape to a desert oasis, minus the sand in your shoes.

I stumbled upon Lula’s Garden, an online succulent gift shop, when I was tapping through my West Coast friend’s Insta-story.

Here was this adorable self-contained planter with a trio of zebra stripes, soothing fleshy stalks, and bursts of colorful pads. Starting at $27, which includes a planter box, I decided I should give these a try. Bonus: Each garden sold provides six months of safe water for one person in a developing world through water.org.

What is it like to order plants from Lula’s Garden?

Being in the thick of holiday season, I headed straight to its seasonal section. Succulents don’t exactly conjure up visions of sugar plums, but I’m up for a present to myself.

Collections are broken up as Petite, Special Edition, Original, Deluxe, and Premium. Before you go all rockstar and consider ordering the Premium, these are only available in the Los Angeles area, from where all of these delightful succulents originate.

I put the Holiday Verdant Garden in my cart, a foot-long ivory planter full of echeveria, haworthia, and jade ($60). With winter being hockey season (or at least it was before the coronavirus), I thought let’s make this a hat trick. If I keep all three alive, it will be an accomplishment.

Since this bundle doesn’t come with a pop of color, I also added the Holiday Joy Garden with a haworthia and red grafted cacti in a small cylindrical ivory planter box ($36).

For an extra $3.45, you can add a heat pack if your area has below 40 degree weather. Upgrading to a gift set for $8 adds a New Beginning journal (after 2020, this is something we definitely all want).

How do plants from Lula’s Garden arrive?

When my succulents arrived from Lula's Garden, each was surrounded by fixed stones at the base and meticulously individually wrapped in tissue paper and plastic forms.
Credit: Reviewed / Cheryl Fenton

When my succulents arrived from Lula's Garden, each was surrounded by fixed stones at the base and meticulously individually wrapped in tissue paper and plastic forms.

When my at-home plants are accidentally jostled, dirt goes flying, so I was curious how Lula’s Garden would be shipping these precious packages. They arrived neat, in proper form, and in great condition.

Each sturdy package is adorned with holiday greetings. When I pulled off the box tops, I found my gifts nestled all in their beds, each succulent surrounded by fixed stones at the base and meticulously individually wrapped in tissue paper and plastic forms.

It’s the self-sustaining gift boxes the succulents are planted in that serve as planters for them to thrive. So, there’s no need to plant them. Oh, happy day. This is, at least until you’ve taken such good care of them that they outgrow their homes and need to be repotted.

While the boxes arrived with unpacking instructions and initial watering info (each comes with a plastic dropper), I was disappointed that the care instructions weren’t anywhere to be seen. I did eventually find them on Lula’s Garden’s website.

How hard is it to keep these succulents alive?

Keeping succulents alive is pretty uneventful.

For me, it’s this utter lack of care that’s my downfall. Can I ignore my need to nourish?

Because the care instructions weren’t on the actual package, I forgot to care for it after its initial welcome watering. When I finally did go to the site for the info, I discovered a 7- to 10-day water ritual that I was weeks behind on.

I remedied the issue, but these succulents still looked fantastic despite the drought. They were very healthy and probably thankful their mom was leaving them alone. Wait, my little babies don’t need me?

Are plants from Lula’s Garden worth it?

These gorgeous succulents are worth their steep price tag—the easy all-in-one planter box is a wonderful little surprise and there is a wide variety of colors, textures, and counts from which to choose.
Credit: Reviewed / Cheryl Fenton

These gorgeous succulents are worth their steep price tag—the easy all-in-one planter box is a wonderful little surprise and there is a wide variety of colors, textures, and counts from which to choose.

The entire concept behind the website store is giving the gift of succulents. And if you buy them as a special treat for someone (or yourself), you’ll be able to ignore their price tags—often multiple times the cost of those on similar size succulents bought at a local store.

But the easy all-in-one planter box is a wonderful little surprise that really takes the guesswork out of bringing home a plant. Lula’s Garden also boasts a wide variety of colors, textures, and counts of succulents from which to choose.

I just hope that my newly discovered aversion to assistance doesn’t jump over to other plants. Apologies in advance my lovely orchid.

Get succulent gardens at Lula’s Garden starting at $27

Related content

Up next