SUCCULENTS SAVED HOMES!

Debra Baldwin, a Hidden Meadows resident who wrote the book "Designing with Succlents," got an email from Suzy Schaefer, whose garden was featured on the cover of Baldwin's book "Succulents saved our home. The fire came within 6 feet of the house, but the garden saved the house from burning."

According to Baldwin: "I went there and saw how wildfire had blackened palms and eucalyptus in the canyon adjacent to the Schaefers' Rancho Santa Fe home and, sadly, consumed a house across the street. A stand of Aloe arborescens had shielded the corner of the Schaefer house closest to the canyon; the plant cooked but did not catch fire.


"In the south Escondido community of Del Dios, an area hit hard by wildfire, I saw aloes, agaves, jade, ice plants and prickly pear cactus still green near homes reduced to ashes. And no wonder -- succulents, which by definition are plants with fleshy leaves and stems, are like well-sealed water balloons.


This past week, the Associated Press interviewed me on using succulents for firewise landscaping, and I wrote an article on the subject for the Los Angeles Times (Home section, Thurs. Nov. 8). And tomorrow morning I'll be on Garden Compass radio, Sun. Nov. 4, at 8:45 a.m. The show is broadcast throughout California and parts of Arizona, and also via the Internet. Go to http://www.1360klsd.com/main.html and click on Listen Live in the upper right corner. To call in: 1-800-660-4769 or (619) 560-1360.