This is a tricky time of year. All those hard-working summer flowers are either slowing down or have packed up altogether. To the rescue come succulents, versatile evergreen plants that grow naturally in arid parts of the world – some in mountainous areas, where they have to cope with extreme cold as well as heat; others in rocky deserts – and all of which have the ability to store water in their fat, fleshy leaves.

It is the shapes and colours of these leaves that make them such sensational plants, especially when grown in containers, which makes them perfect for arranging within your line of vision from the house to the winter garden.

Although they are evergreen, they come in an array of shades, from green to grey, blue, pink, purple and burgundy, many edged in a contrasting colour. The leaves are sculpted and the plants form architectural shapes, from tight rosettes to big, bold clumps (the summer flowers are somewhat incidental).

The appeal of succulents is not new – the Victorians used them to make patterns in bedding displays and to fill rock gardens and stone troughs. But they look just as good in a contemporary setting, where you can make full use of their diverse shapes and colours.

There are several nurseries that supply succulents by mail order; most garden centres also have a good range. So, what to choose? The hardy bunch:houseleeks (sempervivum, jovibarba and rosularia) form low, brightly coloured rosettes of leaves that can be glossy or downy, rounded or pointed, long and tapering, or short and fat. The leaves are most intense in spring and summer, and deepen in colour before flowering in their second or third year. They do best in a sunny spot. Plant a tapestry of different-coloured varieties or a single type, such asSempervivum‘Commander Hay’, which is green flushed with red, or S calcareum, which forms pincushions of red-tipped pale green leaves.

For a window ledge, plant up a line of engineering bricks. Fill each hole with a mixture of compost and grit. Stand the brick in water until saturated, then push a rosette into each hole. In a few months the brick will be smothered in little rosettes. Houseleeks multiply by producing clusters of young plants (offsets) at the base of the mother plant. These can be pulled off and planted up to fill a new container. Fernwood Nursery (www.fernwood-nursery.co.uk) has a good range. Sedums: these cope with poor, parched soil, so will perform in the driest part of the garden. They come in different sizes, from creeping varieties, such as the pale green Sedum acre, with bright yellow flowers up to 1ft tall, toS spectabile, with pale green leaves, which looks stunning in a charcoal or black pot. The flowers are star-shaped, and come in white, pink, yellow or red.

On the tender side: agaves may be desert survivors but they can be susceptible to frost. The bigger the specimen, the more chance it has of surviving cold winters unprotected, especially in mild seaside or city-centre gardens. They have big, strappy leaves and dramatic flower spikes that can take 10 years or more to appear. The hardiest varieties are the stunning glaucous-leaved Agave americana, which grows to about 3ft tall (the striped-leaved varieties are too tender) or the smaller A parryi, which has spiky-edged leaves. Both look superb offset by a rusted metal or terracotta container.

Another succulent with attitude is Aloe striatula, with long, spiny-edged grey-green leaves and yellow poker-shaped flowers, which can reach 3ft tall. It can get through winter in frost-free gardens (www.architectural plants.com ; www.mulu.co.uk ). How to grow:welldrained soil is the key to success. Use soil-based compost, such as John Innes No 2, with plenty of grit or vermiculite, and make sure the container has drainage holes (and a layer of crocks if it’s a terracotta pot). Big or tall pots can be half-filled with polystyrene bits to make them easier to move. Do not water succulents in winter (and only sparingly in summer) or place them under trees where water can drip onto them. Pick off dead leaves, and give them an occasional foliar feed to keep them in top condition.

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