13 Flower-Shaped Succulents for Your Indoor Displays

Unless you have a space that gets tons of natural light, chances are strong that most of your houseplants don’t do much blooming. There are different reasons for this. Of course, exposure is just one piece of the puzzle. Many need a period of cool weather or fluctuations that they simply don’t get indoors. 

If you want to have the look of flowers in the home, there is a wide assortment of succulents that grow in a rosette form. These come from a handful of genera, and many come in strikingly beautiful colors. Some have a color-shifting characteristic. 

Not only do these plants give the look of indoor blooms without the need for special conditions, but they’re also low maintenance, and many are great for beginners. If you struggle to set up a good watering schedule, they will be far more forgiving than their herbaceous counterparts. Here are some beautiful flower-shaped succulents that make up for a lack of indoor blooms.

Echeveria ‘Perle Von Nurnberg’

	botanical name Echeveria ‘Perle Von Nurnberg’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8”-10”
	hardiness zones 9-12

Echeverias are a common type of flower-shaped succulent that many plant lovers keep in their homes. Their fleshy leaves grow in a well-organized whirl, forming what appears to be a large flower. They are easy to care for and even easier to propagate from leaf cuttings or offsets. 

‘Perle Von Nurnberg’ is a well-known cultivar with slightly pointed leaves in a pale silver color with a faint purple wash. The purple becomes more pronounced with more light exposure. This winner of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit is also a big bloomer. It can send up as many as six spikes with coral-colored blossoms. 

Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’

	botanical name Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 18”-24”
	hardiness zones 9-11

Graprtoveria is another attractive succulent that grows its plump leaves in a swirling pattern. It’s native to Mexico and is a sturdy plant with excellent pest and disease resistance. If it experiences a period of cold in the winter, it will produce an inflorescence with many small, yellow florets in the spring.

‘Fred Ives’ is a hybrid cultivar with a vigorous clumping habit. It grows quickly, so give it a fair-sized container. The leaves are bluish-gray toward the center and rosy bronze at the ends. When exposed to bright light or cold temperatures, the color can take on more red and purple tones. 

Mountain Rose

	botanical name Aeonium dodrentalis
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3”-6”
	hardiness zones 10-11

This cultivar has a different shape than our first two succulents. Rather than appearing like an opened bloom, this one looks like its namesake that is still in the bud stage. The leaves are flatter and curve around and upward to form a tight bud.

As it ages, this plant produces offsets in a clump. The clumps look like a bouquet of flowers from a bird’s eye view. The central cluster will open out slightly as offsets form between the lower leaves.

Aeonium ‘Black Rose’

	botanical name Aeonium arboreum ‘Atropurpureum’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3’-5’
	hardiness zones 9-11

You’ll love the look of this one, especially if you’re into goth gardening. It’s a beautifully dramatic plant that forms whirling leaves, which eventually sit atop long, narrow stems. It has few issues with pests and diseases and tolerates a range of exposure levels. 

The color of ‘Black Rose’ is unique and changes with the amount of light it receives. In lower light, the leaves are deep red with a chartreuse center. More exposure deepens the red color, turning it nearly black. It’s a summer bloomer when it produces small, star-shaped flowers. 

Sedeveria ‘Green Rose’

	botanical name Sedeveria ‘Green Rose’
	sun requirements Bright indirect light
	height Up to 1’
	hardiness zones 9-10

Sedeveria is a hybrid cross between echeveria and sedum. It has a clumping habit and forms a mound quickly. This flower-shaped succulent has characteristics of both parents, forming leaf whirls like echeveria but in masses like a sedum. It is low-growing and can have a trailing effect, spilling over the side of its container. 

‘Green Rose’ is a wonderful cultivar. The plants are small and grow continuously outward, similar to a burro’s tail. They are a beautiful shade of pale, dusky green. It’s a summer bloomer and produces clusters of small, yellow flowers. 

Aeonium ‘Madeira Rose’

	botanical name Aeonium ‘Madeira Rose’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height Up to 18”
	hardiness zones 9-11

Aeoniums have excellent light exposure tolerance; with increased light, they tend to change color, taking on red or purple tones. Many succulents have this characteristic, and it’s desirable even though it indicates an amount of stress on the plant. 

‘Madeira Rose’ has particularly beautiful coloration. The flat, slightly spoon-shaped leaves have a red line in the center, from the tip extending about halfway down the leaf. The same shade takes over the ends of the leaves as light or cold exposure increases.

Sempervivum ‘Black’

	botanical name Sempervivum ‘Black’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4”-6”
	hardiness zones 3-8

You may know sempervivum as Hens & Chicks for its habit of forming masses of offsets. A large central whirl often nestles among a number of ‘chicks’ that appear on stems that grow horizontally from the ‘hen.’ The mother produces lovely white flowers, while the offsets form their own roots, making this an easy plant to propagate. 

‘Black’ starts out bright green, but exposure to bright sunlight or cold temperatures brings out deep purple tones. Semvervivums are monocarpic. After the mother produces flowers, it will die. But don’t worry. These flower-shaped succulents are prolific reproducers, and you’ll have many more to replace them with.

Graptopetalum ‘Purple Delight’

	botanical name Graptopetalum ‘Purple Delight’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8”
	hardiness zones 10-11

Graptopetalum are wonderfully low maintenance and have an attractive trailing habit. They look great, spilling over the side of a container as the stems grow long and curving, with foliage held at the ends. 

‘Purple Delight’ is one of the prettiest I’ve seen. The whirls of fleshy leaves resemble fully opened lavender blooms. They have soft blue undertones, and the blush they take on from light or cold gives a purple cast. It can survive in partial shade, but the colors are more muted under these conditions. 

Irish Rose

	botanical name Aeonium arboreum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height Up to 5’
	hardiness zones 9-11

‘Black Rose’ is a sport of this pretty aeonium, which goes by the nickname Irish rose. As you might suspect, this version is green but tends to blush around the edges when exposed to bright light and cold temperatures. While this characteristic indicates stress, it’s typically not harmful and a desirable trait. Most feel that it enhances the beauty. 

The flower-shaped succulent leaves of this plant are thin and initially grow in a tight formation, resembling a bud. As they mature, they open out nearly flat, making the whirling pattern more visible. 

Moon Goddess

	botanical name Aeonium ‘Garnet’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2′
	hardiness zones 9-11

‘Moon Goddess,’ or ‘Garnet’ aeonium, is a gorgeous cultivar with variegated foliage. The succulent leaves are large and spoon-shaped. They have a green center and deep red flushing across the ends. The effect is truly stunning. 

With less light and warm weather, the flushing recedes to the margins, which is another lovely variation for this flashy plant. It resembles a multi-colored zinnia. 

Aeonium ‘Pink Mountain Rose’

	botanical name Aeonium aurea ex El Hierro ‘Pink Mountain Rose’
	sun requirements Bright indirect light
	height 6”
	hardiness zones 9-11

This variation of Mountain is probably my favorite plant on this list. It’s just like the standard, but it’s a wonderful dusty pink color. It’s rare and tends to be pricey, but if you love succulents, this is one to look for. 

Like pink buds, these open and close with the amount of light they receive. Too much exposure, and they will close up to conserve moisture. They remain open in bright but indirect light. 

Sedeveria ‘Letizia’ 

	botanical name Sedeveria ‘Letizia’
	sun requirements Bright indirect light
	height 9”-12”
	hardiness zones 9-10

Another hybrid of echeveria and sedum, ‘Letizia,’ is a stunner. The bright green whirls are mound-forming and lightly flocked for a velvety texture. In lower light, only the tips of the leaves have a red tint. More light or cold temperatures increase the intensity of the color. A bit of drought will also increase the effect.

Graptoveria ‘Lovely Rose’

	botanical name x Graptoveria ‘Lovely Rose’
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 6”
	hardiness zones 9-11

Graptoveria is a cross between echeveria and graptopetalum. They commonly have soft greenish-blue leaves with rounded edges. When stressed, like their parent plants, they tend to take on more vivid tones in the red and purple family.