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A member of the succulent plant family, particularly adapted to arid and extremely hot environments, and characterised by spines. Often flowers at night.

Plants that have thick, fleshy leaves, which enable them to store water and so survive very dry conditions. Almost all cacti are succulents.

'Medium-flowered cactus dahlia, with sunny yellow flowers. Height 120cm.Dahlia 'Yellow Galator'Small-flowered semi-cactus type, with white-tipped pinky red petals. Height 60cm.Dahlia 'Pianella'More about using garden weedsTake dahlia cuttings Plant dahlia tubers

Free-draining compost or cactus compostSilver sandNewspaperSheet of glassPencil (to prick out)Seed trayall year round20 minutes to sowFill a broad terracotta pot with a moist, gritty, loam-based compost, such as John Innes. Firm down and make the surface level

Bird tables can be improved with a living, green roof that looks attractive and encourages more wildlife to visit your garden. The best plants to use for green roofs on your bird table are sedums, as they can withstand drought and grow on poor soil

for good drainage. This is particularly important for permanently-planted containers in the garden. This also helps to stabilise lightweight containers.Add compost to the bottom of the container, using the plant in its existing pot as a guide to the depth

.cacti, succulents,greenhouse and house plantssummer, autumn, winterMore common garden pestsAphidsPhormium mealybugThripsWhitefly

Sempervivum and jovibarbaSempervivums, or houseleeks, are hardy, succulent, alpine plants that grow in the wild between rocks in mountainous regions. We picked out ten of the best varieties at BBC Gardeners' World Live 2009.Sempervivum means 'always

In this easy-to-make display, we've combined aloe with a contemporary planter to produce a simple but striking result. Aloe is a succulent plant which, although frost tender, will survive in a sheltered spot in summer. May - AugustMay - October30

, greenhouse plantsall year roundMore common garden pestsAphidsFlea beetleEuonymus scaleWhitefly