Blue is not a common color in the natural world. It’s actually quite rare to find blue animals, blue flowers, or blue leaves. There are, however, several succulent cultivars that are bred for their beautiful blue foliage. Most of these are breeder-created cultivars developed from naturally occurring species native to warm and arid locations.
Most houseplant enthusiasts have at least a few succulents. They are low-maintenance, easy to grow, and fascinating to look at. Their thickened, juicy leaves come in all sorts of different shapes and colors, and they are typically very compact and make excellent houseplants. Succulents are also readily available in garden centers, greenhouses, and even grocery stores. And if you have friends who grow succulents, it’s great to know they are also easy to propagate.
During the warm summer months, move your succulents outside to a protected location. Keep a close eye on them to be sure they don’t get too much sun or water. It can be a shock for houseplants to move from indoor lighting to unfiltered direct sunlight. When the temperatures start to cool again in the fall, move your plants back inside so they can enjoy the winter indoors.
Read on to learn more about nine nifty succulent houseplants that will add a dash of beautiful and unusual color to your indoor garden.
Under ideal conditions, these aloes may even bloom, showcasing vibrant spikes of flowers.
| botanical name Aloe ‘Blue Elf’ | |
 | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
 | height 12 – 24 inches |
 | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Blue Elf’ aloe is a beautiful cultivar of the popular aloe plant. Grown as a houseplant, it typically reaches about one foot tall, but a single plant slowly spreads by producing offshoots known as pups. These pups grow alongside the parent plant, or they can be separated and repotted to create entirely new plants.
‘Blue Elf’ Aloe grows in a rosette with thick, elongated leaves. Each leaf is lined with a series of sharp spines, so wear gloves when handing these plants! The leaves are a beautiful silvery blue-green color. In bright light, they develop a purple hue at the tips. In ideal conditions, you may even coax them into bloom! Blooming aloes develop spectacularly showy spikes of bright red, yellow, or orange tubular flowers.
This plant flourishes in poor-quality, dry, rocky soil, making it perfect for mini rock garden planters.
 | botanical name Aloe ‘Purple Haze’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 6 inches |
| | hardiness zones 10 – 13 |
‘Purple Haze’ aloe is a distinctly unique aloe cultivar that you won’t soon forget. It is a low-growing plant that grows in a dense rosette of gently upcurved leaves. Each leaf is tough, thick, and covered with numerous rough bumps. While purple is in the name, the leaves themselves are pale bluish-green, and the raised patches are a soft, creamy pink.
The ‘Purple Haze’ aloe is well-suited for poor-quality, dry, rocky soil. Grow it in a mini rock garden planter for a dramatic display. If you’re lucky enough to coax your plant into flowering, you’ll be delighted by the bright red flower spikes. Even without the flowers, this funky little aloe plant is worth growing for its highly ornamental leaves.
These rosettes exhibit a spectrum from pale green to silvery blue.
| | botanical name Senecio mandraliscae |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 12 – 18 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
Blue Chalksticks is a fascinating succulent plant that makes a great ground cover for a frost-free rock garden or container garden. As a houseplant, this spreading succulent will fill its pot with many branching stems, each ending in a dense rosette. The rosettes have short (three to four inches long), thick, rounded, upright leaves. The leaves on each rosette range from pale green to silvery blue.
Blue Chalksticks grows fairly quickly. When this plant outgrows its pot, trim off healthy stem segments with a rosette at the end and replant them in a new pot. New rosettes regrow on the cut stems, and the transplanted rosettes develop new roots and keep on growing!
Echeveria plants produce multiple smaller offshoots from mature mother plants.
| | botanical name Echeveria ‘Blue Bird’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 3 – 5 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Blue Bird’ is an Echeveria cultivar that has distinctively colorful leaves. When grown in bright light, the leaves are a beautiful misty blue color with pink highlights. These plants naturally develop a thin, waxy-looking coating on their leaves, which adds to the powdery look but also protects them from drying out.
‘Blue Bird’ is a very low-growing succulent with dense, rounded, leafy rosettes. Echeveria plants are also known as ‘Hens and Chicks’ because each mature mother plant (the hen) can develop several smaller offshoots (chicks) that grow into new, independent plants that can be allowed to form a ground cover or can be separated and transplanted to new pots.
Regardless of the hue, this plant remains visually appealing in any shade.
| | botanical name Echeveria ‘Blue Prince’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 3 – 5 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Blue Prince’ is a beautiful Echeveria cultivar with thick, broad, juicy leaves. The leaves grow into a low-growing rosette and make for very attractive houseplants. With enough bright light, your ‘Blue Prince’ will display leaf colors ranging from soft, pale green to light blue and misty pink.
This Echeveria shows its best colors in bright light. When grown in more shade, the leaves stay pale green with limited additional color hues. But that’s okay. This is a very attractive plant with any leaf color. Bright light also keeps your rosettes densely compact and helps them bloom with sweet, pink, star-shaped flowers.
Given ample bright light, these plants exhibit stunning pink edges as they grow.
| | botanical name Echeveria ‘Blue Sky’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 6 – 8 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Blue Sky’ Echeveria has unique, broadly triangular leaves. The leaves grow into a dense rosette with a very rounded shape. The more central leaves tend to be a pale blue-green color, while the other leaves are more pale green. Bright light allows these plants to develop beautiful pink edges.
If you grow your ‘Blue Sky’ in ideal conditions and bright light, you may be lucky enough to see it flower. The flowers develop in a little cluster at the end of a central stalk and bloom into beautiful pink, star-shaped flowers with yellow centers.
This charming plant thrives in indoor rock gardens or temporary outdoor containers.
| | botanical name Echeveria ‘Orion’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 2 – 3 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Orion’ is a cultivar of Echeveria that develops a silvery blue rosette. In bright sunlight, the leaves develop a distinct hazy pink coloration, particularly around the edges and tips. These compact plants stay very low and dense. The leaves are thick with rounded edges except for a central point in the center of each.
This beautiful plant looks great in an indoor rock garden or seasonal outdoor container garden, perhaps growing alongside another Echeveria cultivar. Over time, they send out young chicks along the sides, which can be divided to create separate new plants. However, this is generally a very well-behaved houseplant with a lot of charm.
Despite its compact size, ‘Bea’ eventually sprouts elongated stalks, which can be pruned.
| | botanical name Packyveria ‘Bea’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 6 – 8 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
‘Bea’ is a Pachyveria cultivar with fascinating leaves. Each leaf is extremely thick and plump, somewhat oval-shaped, and comes to a sharp point at the tip. The leaves look soft and frosted, with colors ranging from pink to pale green to silvery blue. The best colors develop in bright sun conditions.
‘Bea’ stays fairly small and compact, but over time, it develops somewhat long stalks. These can be trimmed back as desired. New leaves regrow from the old stem, and you can simply replant the top part of the stem with the existing leaves. You then have two individual plants. In ideal conditions, ‘Bea’ grows a flower stalk topped with a beautiful cluster of nodding bright orange flowers.
To tidy up overgrown plants, trim the stems for a more compact appearance.
| | botanical name Sedeveria ‘Blue Burrito’ |
|---|---|
| | sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
| | height 9 – 12 inches |
| | hardiness zones 9 – 11 |
The ‘Blue Burrito’ Sedeveria is a sweet succulent that grows long, trailing, leaf-lined stems. The leaves are thick points that form elongated rosettes. Their pale, glowing, blue-green color becomes tinged with pink when grown in bright sunlight. In ideal conditions, you’ll be treated by a flowering stem topped with beautiful pink flowers.
‘Blue Burrito’ is unique in that the leaves continue to line the stems as these plants age, unlike similar Sedeverias that have more exposed stems. When your plants begin to look leggy and unkempt, simply trim them to a more compact size. The lower stems sprout new leaves, and the upper stems root to become new plants.
Succulents make excellent houseplants. They are so easy to care for, as they basically thrive on neglect. Once your succulents are situated in a pot with good drainage holes and well-drained soil, place them in a sunny window.
You only need to water them once the soil has dried completely. Don’t worry if it’s dry for several days, succulents are perfectly adapted to living in drought conditions. They save extra moisture in their thick, juicy leaves that act as an extra emergency water reservoir. In fact, it’s much easier to overwater a succulent than to underwater it. These low-maintenance plants make super houseplants because they’re so easy to take care of!
Succulents love sunlight but don’t worry if you don’t have a bright window. A south or west-facing window is best but some succulents will grow well with less light. If you don’t have a good window location, grow succulents and other houseplants with a full-spectrum grow light. Grow lights are a great way to grow sun-loving plants in your home, start seedlings, overwinter smaller plants indoors, and of course, grow succulents!
When you first purchase a succulent plant, it has probably been grown in ideal greenhouse growing conditions. The bright sunlight it receives brings out all sorts of bright colors in the leaves. Many succulents develop shades of pink, yellow, or blue in their leaves. When you bring it home, unless you can mimic those same ideal conditions, the leaves may revert to green.
If your once colorful succulent appears otherwise healthy but the leaves have become solid green, see if you can give it more natural sunlight. Even plants grown under grow lights may not be as colorful as those growing in natural sunlight conditions.
If you love houseplants, and particularly if you love growing succulents, check out some of these fabulous blue varieties. They are just as easy to grow as their green-leafed cousins. All you need is a warm location with abundant bright sunlight and well-drained soil. Occasional watering is all the routine attention they need. Most of these varieties are quite compact and super easy to grow, making them ideal houseplants for your indoor plant collection!
