With an endless array of interesting shapes and colors, and the nearly foolproof care requirements of good sun and well-drained soil, succulents are a popular choice for dressing up windowsills and sunny indoor tables. As spring warms into summer, succulent fans also have the option of using these easy plants outdoors.

“Succulent” is a broad term for plants with thick, fleshy stems and leaves that thrive in arid climates. (Cactus and aloe are two well-known examples.) Most succulents are not hardy enough to survive cold Midwestern winters, which is why succulent-filled pots that can be moved indoors in cold weather are a solid choice for outdoor decorating.

Josie Schimke, co-owner of Earth Flowers, a succulent greenhouse in Lecompton, said that with colors ranging from olive green, to red-orange and silvery blues, the process of picking succulents for a potted arrangement is sometimes overwhelming. However, the echeveria variety of succulents — which generally take the shape of small rosettes — is a popular choice.

“The world of echeveria is vast; there are so many,” Schimke said. “If you plant a bunch of them in a pot it kind of looks like water lilies floating in a bowl.”

Although succulents should generally be grown in pots or treated as annuals in the Midwest, Schimke said that two varieties of succulents, sedum and sempervivum, are hardy enough to be used as perennial landscaping in Kansas.

Sedum, commonly called stonecrop, comes in low-growing and spreading ground-cover varieties. It is drought-tolerant and easy to divide. One of the most common sedum used in landscaping is the “Autumn Joy,” a compact plant that is 12 to 24 inches tall with flowers that age from pink to bronze. “Dragon’s Blood” is a popular spreading evergreen sedum that offers deep-purple leaves and pinkish purple blooms in late summer. Another favorite spreading sedum, “Blue Spruce,” has silvery blue foliage and small yellow summertime blooms.

Schimke said that sempervivum, also known as “hens and chicks,” are perfect for Midwest landscaping because they require little water and work especially well in rocky areas and on slopes.

“If you have a slope, sempervivum are perfect because they will hold the soil in place and slopes are well drained,” Schimke said. “Chinks in a rock wall will give them everything they want because the soil is dry and is kept cooler by the rocks. You can really have a pallet of beauty with the hens and chicks.”

Schimke said there is no reason to shy away from using non-hardy succulents in annual beds. Because both the leaves and the flowers come in interesting hues, succulents are a great way to add color. Succulents are also easy to propagate, which means that gardeners can take cuttings from non-hardy succulents at the end of the season, plant them in a pots indoors, and then plant them again outside the following spring.

“You just cut off about two inches of the plant, take off the bottom leaves, and then leave it out for a day before you replant it so that the root can callous over,” said Schimke. “You have to let it harden for a whole day or it may rot. But other than that, it is astonishingly easy.”