Succulent Heart Box for Next Valentine's Day, or for Love in General

Valentine’s Day has passed. But the Valentine’s candy deep-discount sales have just started. And why would a plant lover be interested in that detail? Well, loving plants doesn’t preclude one from loving a bit of chocolate. But of even greater interest to the plant lover might be this fact: picking up a good heart box at the right price now will mean that next Heart Day, you’ll be able to create one of those Succulent plant heart displays that I, for one, have never known how to assemble.

So, here’s the backstory: I was admiring my heart-shaped box of chocolates, with candy numbers dwindling. (After all, quite a bit of time has elapsed between the 14^th and now, the 16^th.) Any good heart box would do, but the one I was given happens to be one with generously sized indentations in a plastic tray which lines the cardboard heart box. I started inspecting. To my delight, I realized that each indentation seemed to be a suitable size for the shallow roots of a tiny Succulent plant.

Now, I said that any good heart box would do, but I should perhaps share that this particular candy box—quite close to perfection in terms of becoming home to an array of Succulent plants for a while—comes from that commercial maker of perfectly spherical truffles that are sold in all sorts of stores, even supermarkets. You know the maker: Its name rhymes with Mint. This box was a beauty!

Specifically, this box with its well-formed and sturdy plastic liner ensures that there is almost no chance that water will escape and wet the cardboard that forms the outer box. And those spheres of chocolate are (were) of a size that is substantial enough that the spaces that were created for them can easily house tiny Succulent plants. These plants would find comfy sitting spots for themselves with plenty of elbow room (well..., leaf room). Placing an aluminum foil covering along the base of any other sort of heart box would also do the trick, but this box… well, again, it was pretty close to perfection.

I have always wondered how those great Succulent heart displays come to be. You know… the grouping of multi-colored Succulent plants… plants of different tones, textures, and shapes, planted together to form the iconic symbol that means Valentine’s Day, or love in general. 

Although I have access to small plants, I have never been confident in my ability to get them arranged in such a way that they would form a shape and stay in that shape, with no shifting of the design. I have used chicken wire to form a shape, securing tiny plant pots within it. I have visited florist shops that have sold heart-shaped dishes in which plants could be placed. But the look of a true candy box, in the perfect shape for February 14… well, using that as a planter has been a fun goal of mine, though I have never really known how to achieve it with ease. Enter the “Mint” chocolate box.

As you’re probably well aware, just about every Succulent is quite self-sustaining. Unlike plants that would need lots of water, Succulent plants are perfect to use in a display that involves easily damaged materials such as paper and cardboard. With those materials, you don’t want to be watering or fussing with a plant very frequently, as that would risk getting the paper wet and weakened. But the carefree, low-maintenance Succulent does not require much, and thus it is ideal for use in a heart box display.

I have a good mind to create a Succulent heart display now, simply in the name of “love”, but a better use may be to save my box for next year. For now, my easy-to-care-for Succulent plants will stay in ceramic dishes and windowsill pots. But when the time comes next year, when the first days of February roll around, I will unearth my empty Valentine’s candy box—perhaps it will keep a little of its chocolate aroma even until then—and I’ll set to work, teasing apart some already moistened Succulent Hen & Chicks, a tiny Jade plant or two, and perhaps a little Stonecrop if I can find it at that time of year. I’ll gently tamp down the soil of these plants (or plant divisions, if some need to be made a little smaller) in the box indentations that once held candy, and I’ll enjoy the heart box all season. I imagine I can get by with just a couple of waterings (mistings would be even better) before I re-pot my plants into bigger and more permanent containers. But for the month of Cupid, red roses, conversation hearts, chocolate truffles, and love, I’ll have an ideal display. And, you can, too. (Check out those candy sales!)