Fancy a porch or balcony that looks like a mini jungle of cascading greenery? These spilling succulents can make it happen—effortlessly!
Small succulents in tiny containers sure look wonderful, especially if planted in rows over the windowsill or your home office desk setup. But if you have never tried growing succulents that trail and spill over their pots, you are missing out! For low-maintenance yet charming aesthetics, check out the best spilling succulents below!
Best Spilling Succulents
1. Burro’s Tail
Botanical Name: Sedum Morganianum
Best suited for warm and temperate regions, Burro’s Tail is one of the quintessential plants to have in your collection, especially when talking to spilling succulents.
Being both heat and drought-tolerant, Burro’s tail leaves range from green to gray-green and sometimes, even blue-green! Imagine the overhead canopy it would create on your balcony!
2. String of Pearls
Botanical Name: Senecio rowleyanus
This one really lives up to the name. Each trailing strand looks like a necklace of green pearls tumbling over the edge. It doesn’t need much to thrive—just bright light and the occasional feeding. Honestly, once it gets going, it’s hard to stop admiring it.
3. String of Hearts
Botanical Name: Ceropegia woodii
An evergreen succulent perfect for hanging baskets or overhead pots on windowsills, the String of Hearts grows quite quickly and can reach several feet as it matures. The most attracting feature of the foliage is the marbled pattern over heart-shaped, fleshy leaves, which are gray-green and look great as they trail.
4. String of Dolphins
Botanical Name: Senecio peregrinus
Yes, the leaves really do look like tiny jumping dolphins! This fun plant is a must for a sunny windowsill. It thrives on neglect—so if you forget about it for a few days, it’ll still thank you with healthy growth.
5. Fantasy Venice
Botanical Name: Tradescantia nanouk
It would hardly come as a surprise that this spiderwort is one of the most popular indoor plants. This succulent looks like a painting thanks to its gorgeous foliage showcasing green, purple, and white variegations. Imagine waking up every day to a sight of this beauty hanging by your bedroom window!
6. String of Bananas
Botanical Name: Senecio radicans
Quite the cousin of the String of Pearls, the String of Bananas is rightly named so because of the banana-shaped foliage on tender, trailing stems. It is fast-growing and can produce vines that are at least 3 feet long, and it is surprisingly easy to care for.
Though best suited for hanging inside by windows, you can grow them outdoors in warm regions like zones 10 to 12.
7. Elephant Bush
Botanical Name: Portulacaria afra
This one starts as a compact bush and grows into a mini-tree with time. Though it usually grows upright, you can train it to spill and sprawl beautifully in hanging baskets. The glossy green leaves and reddish stems give it a really pretty contrast.
8. String of Buttons
Botanical Name: Crassula perforata
An ornamental succulent with nice, rounded, fleshy leaves stacked tightly over one another, the String of Buttons or Crassula Baby Necklace has nearly invisible and super-thin stems! It is quite cold and drought-tolerant, but it does need some sun protection. Like most succulents, it will do best in cactus soil mix and with enough drainage holes for proper aeration.
9. Ruby Necklace
Botanical Name: Othonna capensis
Also called the String of Pickles or even Little Pickles, the Ruby Necklace is one succulent that showcases purple-red stems underneath green leaves, which creates quite a unique look in hanging planters. But for extra charm, you have to give it just enough sun stress such that the colors turn darker!
10. Calico Kitten
Botanical Name: Crassula pellucida variegata
Ever come across mats of beautiful geometric foliage? That would be the Calico Kitten! The leaves of these spilling succulents are small, somewhat ovate or elliptical, and abundant on thin stems. They are generally green, but you might also notice variegations like brown stripes or red margins.
Note: Perfect for zones 9 to 11, or just keep it indoors if you live elsewhere.
11. Rattail Cactus
Botanical Name: Aporocactus flagelliformis
Despite the name, the Rat Tail cactus is a perennial succulent with either an epiphytic or lithophytic growth habit. The distinctive part about this plant is its long, trailing stems that can reach about 4 feet on maturity. Moreover, this plant changes color, too! While green when young, the stems change to a beige color after aging.
For this succulent to thrive in a hanging pot, you must put it in a bright spot and neglect it!
12. Monkey’s Tail
Botanical Name: Hildewintera colademononis
Fluffy, white, and soft-looking, the Monkey’s Tail cactus dangles dramatically from baskets. It starts spilling once it grows around 2 feet long. Best suited for zones 9a to 11b, and a sunny spot indoors or outdoors works just fine.
13. Peperomia Hope
Botanical Name: Peperomia tetraphylla
From terrariums to hanging baskets, this compact vining succulent is specifically suited for small spaces. Its leaves grow in groups of three or four over slender, cascading stems to make it look extra charming. Additionally, it also blooms with green, brown, or white flowers.
It is great for busy plant lovers, thanks to its low-maintenance, drought-tolerant nature.
14. String of Watermelon
Botanical Name: Senecio herreanus
Like most other succulents on this list, the String of Watermelon lives up to its name with its leaves shaped like watermelon slices. They are green, fleshy, and have white stripes too, exactly like a watermelon rind! With perfect trailing stems, this eye-catching beauty dangles gracefully over hanging baskets placed anywhere in your home.
15. Christmas Cactus
Botanical Name: Schlumbergera bridgesii
A festive favorite! With flat, scalloped leaves and gorgeous blooms in red, pink, or white during the holidays, this one brings serious cheer. It spills gently over pots and looks great in baskets. You can keep it in a bright, indirect spot for best flowering.
16. Trailing Jade
Botanical Name: Senecio jacobsenii
Whether you know it as the trailing jade or the weeping jade, this plant features long, thick, fleshy stems complete with elongated leaves, The trailing jade is even more beautiful with hints of pink or purple on the edges of the leaves.
Native to South Africa, this succulent is all you need for a stunning hanging plant display!
17. Fishbone Cactus
Botanical Name: Selenicereus anthonyanus
If you have been looking for a succulent with uniquely shaped foliage, the fishbone cactus is the one for you! It features long, thin leaves with wavy edges, resembling fish bones. The vibrant green and the fact that these leaves can grow several feet long, spilling over elevated planters are what makes this succulent stand out among other trailing ones.
18. Blue Chalk Sticks
Botanical Name: Senecio mandraliscae
Besides being an excellent ground cover plant, Blue Chalk Sticks are great for hanging baskets and planters, too. In addition to the distinctive blue-gray color of the leaves, the cylindrical, finger-like leaves of the plant are also what make this plant stand out in any landscape!
19. Silver Dollar Vine
Botanical Name: Xerosicyos danguyi
This succulent does not just get its name from the rounded leaves shaped like dollars. In fact, the leaves have another distinctive feature that adds to the beauty of this plant, and that is their silvery tinge. Due to such an appearance, it is called the penny plant as well.
Thriving in very little water, this plant can tolerate all light levels, ranging from full sun, partial shade to bright, indirect sunlight.
And these are all the best spilling succulents that you must start adding to your collection! Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
